ניר בתי גידול של צומח ומערכות אקולוגיות ויערניות

Maquis in the mesic habitats of the Mediterranean region in Israel form a dense and almost impenetrable cover. The necessity to thin and open those maquis, are mainly to lower fire hazard, as well as increasing permeability, and improve ecological niches.

Maquis sustainable management include: thinning and pruning, and moderate grazing thereafter. 1,300 dunam of maquis were chosen and surveyed. The average density was 81 tree/dunam which covered 20-78% of the land with 2-17 trunks per tree.

Quercus calliprinus comprised 67% of the tree species. Furthermore, adaptive closure is due to shrubs and climbers. Our method is to thin most of the stems in each mother tree, excluding 2-3 of the wider. The side brunches of the remaining stems are pruned up to 2.2 meter. Grazing management is crucial for maintaining the sustainability of the maquis. Efforts are made to incorporate both thinning and grazing which will stand as a management model for other maquis.