dunes in a mobile state has been human exploitation, as is happening today along
the border between Israel and Egypt.
There is conclusive evidence that the dunes have been impacted by humans for at
least 200 years. The Jakotin map (1818), for example, describes the coastal dunes as
‘‘un-vegetated and mobile in character’’. This shifting dune situation was probably
maintained for many years by the removal of significant amounts of vegetation.
The vegetation was extensively utilized by people who inhabited the coastal region
long ago, for example, nomadic Bedouins. The dominant native shrubs, desert
broom (Retama raetam), and the monosperm wormwood (Artemisia monosperma),
which is not palatable to sheep or goats owing to its high tannin content, was cut and
used by the Bedouins for firewood, fences, and huts, as can be seen nowadays in the
Sinai desert. Additionally, herds of sheep and goats trampled the physical and
biogenic crust of the upper sand layer, helping to prevent sand stabilization (Kutiel
1998; Kutiel et al. 1999, 2000b, c; Levin and Ben-Dor 2004). Apart from their
impact on sand mobility, sand crusts directly impact habitat suitability to animals
(Zaady and Bouskila 2002). Removing the crusts led to a landscape dominated by
shifting and semi-stabilized sand dunes because the vegetation responsible for dune
stabilization was constantly being suppressed. The processes mentioned above acted
to maintain largely active, mobile dunes almost devoid of vegetation until the second
half of the twentieth century (when the State of Israel was already established), when
grazing and cutting were dramatically curtailed all over the country, including the
coastal plain (Levin and Ben-Dor 2004). Another impressive and very well-known
example of human impact on the activation or stabilization of sand dunes is the
Western Negev dunes. The Google Earth satellite image of this area exposes the
significant difference between the two sides of the Israeli–Egyptian border, which
highlights the border line and is thus known as the ‘‘line phenomenon’’. The dunes
on the Israeli side are stabilized and covered by biogenic crusts because of the
protected status and the almost complete absence of human interference, while on
the Egyptian side; the dunes are bare and mobile owing to Bedouin cutting and
grazing (Meir and Tsoar 1996; Qin et al. 2002).
The geomorphological and ecological significance of this stabilization process
is expressed in changes in landscape features, particularly dune types (Kutiel 2001;
Tsoar and Blumberg 2002), a decrease in landscape heterogeneity and biodiversity
(Kutiel et al. 2004), and a reduction in the psammophilic component, in the flora
and fauna composition of the ecosystem (Kutiel et al. 2000a, 2004; Kutiel 2001).
Remarkably, however, less than 20 % of the dunes retain relatively little plant
cover and considerable mobility, 60 % are semi-stabilized, and the other 20 % are
stabilized (Fig. 11.3).
178
P. Bar (Kutiel)
the border between Israel and Egypt.
There is conclusive evidence that the dunes have been impacted by humans for at
least 200 years. The Jakotin map (1818), for example, describes the coastal dunes as
‘‘un-vegetated and mobile in character’’. This shifting dune situation was probably
maintained for many years by the removal of significant amounts of vegetation.
The vegetation was extensively utilized by people who inhabited the coastal region
long ago, for example, nomadic Bedouins. The dominant native shrubs, desert
broom (Retama raetam), and the monosperm wormwood (Artemisia monosperma),
which is not palatable to sheep or goats owing to its high tannin content, was cut and
used by the Bedouins for firewood, fences, and huts, as can be seen nowadays in the
Sinai desert. Additionally, herds of sheep and goats trampled the physical and
biogenic crust of the upper sand layer, helping to prevent sand stabilization (Kutiel
1998; Kutiel et al. 1999, 2000b, c; Levin and Ben-Dor 2004). Apart from their
impact on sand mobility, sand crusts directly impact habitat suitability to animals
(Zaady and Bouskila 2002). Removing the crusts led to a landscape dominated by
shifting and semi-stabilized sand dunes because the vegetation responsible for dune
stabilization was constantly being suppressed. The processes mentioned above acted
to maintain largely active, mobile dunes almost devoid of vegetation until the second
half of the twentieth century (when the State of Israel was already established), when
grazing and cutting were dramatically curtailed all over the country, including the
coastal plain (Levin and Ben-Dor 2004). Another impressive and very well-known
example of human impact on the activation or stabilization of sand dunes is the
Western Negev dunes. The Google Earth satellite image of this area exposes the
significant difference between the two sides of the Israeli–Egyptian border, which
highlights the border line and is thus known as the ‘‘line phenomenon’’. The dunes
on the Israeli side are stabilized and covered by biogenic crusts because of the
protected status and the almost complete absence of human interference, while on
the Egyptian side; the dunes are bare and mobile owing to Bedouin cutting and
grazing (Meir and Tsoar 1996; Qin et al. 2002).
The geomorphological and ecological significance of this stabilization process
is expressed in changes in landscape features, particularly dune types (Kutiel 2001;
Tsoar and Blumberg 2002), a decrease in landscape heterogeneity and biodiversity
(Kutiel et al. 2004), and a reduction in the psammophilic component, in the flora
and fauna composition of the ecosystem (Kutiel et al. 2000a, 2004; Kutiel 2001).
Remarkably, however, less than 20 % of the dunes retain relatively little plant
cover and considerable mobility, 60 % are semi-stabilized, and the other 20 % are
stabilized (Fig. 11.3).
178
P. Bar (Kutiel)