Question: A large proportion (70%) of coniferous forest area in Israel is used for livestock grazing. Recently, the possibility of managing these monospecific plantations to form mixed conifer-broad-leaved woodlands via natural regeneration processes has been considered. In light of this we pose the question, how does the interaction of cattle grazing and overstorey thinning (hereafter, thinning) affect natural regeneration in east Mediterranean pine plantations?Location: Menashe region, Mediterranean Israel (rainfall = 600 mmÁyr À1 ). Methods:The experiment was carried out in a mature (50 yr) Pinus brutia plantation. Ten plots (0.25 ha) were selected, representing thinned (five plots, %100 treesÁha À1 , leaf area index, LAI%3) and non-thinned (five plots, %230 treesÁha À1 , LAI%6) forest patches. Paired 100-m 2 subplots were positioned within each plot, one of which was fenced to exclude cattle grazing while the other remained available for grazing. Recruitment, growth and shoot water potential of pines and broad-leaved tree species were measured after 10 yr of grazing exclusion.Results: The density of newly emerged (up to 3-mo-old) pine seedlings was decreased by thinning but not affected by grazing. However, pine sapling (established seedlings) density and height were increased by thinning and decreased by grazing. Sapling density of the dominant native oak Quercus ithaburensis was reduced by both thinning and grazing. Thinning enhanced the growth of Q. ithaburensis saplings while grazing restricted their height. Grazing and thinning had no significant effect on the total sapling density of broad-leaved tree species, but grazing restricted their height and reduced species richness. Grazing reduced topsoil water content in non-thinned plots but had no effect in the thinned plots. Grazing increased the water potential of pine seedlings while thinning reduced it. Both grazing and thinning had no effect on the water potential of mature Pistacia lentiscus shrubs.Conclusions: Natural regeneration within east Mediterranean pine plantations is limited by both dense overstorey cover and cattle grazing. While grazing exclusion is necessary for the establishment and early growth of recruits, reintroduction of grazing at later phases may facilitate the development of young forests by controlling competition.

& Key message Cattle grazing and overstory cover restrict understory growth and interact in shaping the understory community structure in Mediterranean conifer plantations. & Context Understanding how silvicultural manipulations drive understory structure and function in Mediterranean pine plantations is essential for their multifunctional management. & Aims This paper aims to study the interactive effects of cattle grazing and overstory thinning on understory structure and function. & Methods Ten plots (0.25 ha) were selected in East M e d i t e r r a n e a n m a t u r e P i n u s b r u t i a p l a n t a t i o n (rainfall = 600 mm year − 1) representing thinned (≈100 trees ha −1 , leaf area index (LAI) ≈ 1.6) and non-thinned (≈230 trees ha −1 , LAI ≈ 3.5) areas. Two subplots (100 m 2) within each plot were fenced in 2000 and 2006 while a third one remained grazed. Understory growth and species composition were measured in 2010. & Results Thinning and grazing exclusion both positively influenced woody growth with their combined effect during 10 years leading to 20-fold increase in vegetation volume. An increase (15-fold) in herbaceous biomass was recorded 4 years after grazing exclusion but disappeared 10 years after exclusion due to increased woody cover. Species richness was not influenced by grazing but was positively affected by thinning. Understory composition was affected by grazing × thinning interaction with herbaceous ephemerals and short woody species being more frequent in grazed, thinned areas while larger woody species were more associated with ungrazed, non-thinned areas. & Conclusion Grazing impacts on forest understories depend on overstory cover. We propose variable grazing-thinning combinations to meet multiple management objectives.

We evaluated the systematic relationship of the two sections of Raphanus (Brassicaceae) on the basis of morphological and ITS data. We obtained strong support that Raphanus is a polyphyletic group embedded in the Oleracea lineage of the tribe Brassiceae. Section Raphanis , which includes Raphanus raphanistrum , R. pugioniformis and R. sativus , is a strongly supported monophyletic lineage. Section Hesperidopsis is embedded in a different lineage together with Brassica deflexa and B. aucheri . We propose to reinstate the genus Quidproquo in place of Raphanus sect. Hesperidopsis as reflected by both morphological data and ITS phylogeny.

Following the digitization of archival records of ethnographic work conducted among Yemeni Jews in the early 1970s, we presented these findings to the same community at the same location, fifty years later. In this renegotiation, our interlocutors radically undermined the credibility of our archival material. We analyze the audience’s reactions and the way they reflect different ethnographic dynamics, contextualizing their critical position in the tensions between archival knowledge and lived repertoire in general, and specifically in relation to traumatic experiences of Yemenis in Israel. Finally, we discuss how the suspicion toward the archive is embedded in larger current discourses on “truth” and “facts” and how in this context, it can be beneficial to scrutinize tradition archives in a community setting.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-469750017 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}@font-face{font-family:Georgia;panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-parent:"";margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:8.0pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:right;line-height:107%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;direction:rtl;unicode-bidi:embed;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:HE;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;font-size:11.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-font-kerning:0pt;mso-ligatures:none;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:HE;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;margin-bottom:8.0pt;text-align:right;line-height:107%;direction:rtl;unicode-bidi:embed;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}

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