Annual vegetation of the coastal sand dunes of the northern Sharon, Israel

This study aims at describing and characterizing the annual vegetation of the northern Sharon sand dunes and its relationship with organic matter content, texture, and field capacity of the upper soil layer (0-30 cm). Eleven annual plant units were determined. These units differ in plant composition, plant density, total biomass, species richness, and species diversity in correspondence with the upper soil layer properties. The plant biomass and the species richness increased with the increase of organic matter content and field capacity. However, species diversity and the average number of species per sampling square increased from shifting to semistabilized sand dunes, and then decreased at the stabilized dunes where the organic matter and field capacity were high. Changes in the annual vegetation gradient, together with that of the soil properties, provided a detailed description of the succession scenario on the sand dunes of this area.