Global patterns of groundwater-dependent vegetation

This data publication includes the data and code to reproduce Figure 4;5;6 and 7 of the PhD Thesis:"From ecohydrological niches to biome patterns: Mapping groundwater-dependent vegetation in the Mediterranean"Submitted on the 26.03.2026 at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Natural Sciences IIIGroundwater-dependent vegetation (GDV) sustains biodiversity and ecosystem functions in water-limited regions such as the Mediterranean biome but remains poorly mapped.The thesis develops a transferable multi-scale framework combining field data, remote sensing, and geospatial datasets to map GDV from local (10 m) to biome-wide scales (500 m and 30 m). Results identify GDV as a distinct ecohydrological vegetation type covering ~28% of the Mediterranean biome (~482,000 km²), controlled by groundwater accessibility, dry-season vitality, soils, and topography. The thesis provides the first high-resolution GDV maps and a baseline for conservation and groundwater management.The cummulative thesis is based on three publications:Publication IEl-Hokayem, L., De Vita, P. & Conrad, C., (2023a). Local Identification of Groundwater Dependent Vegetation Using High-Resolution Sentinel-2 Data – A Mediterranean Case Study. Ecological Indicators, 146, 109784. Udoi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109784U.Publication IIEl-Hokayem, L., De Vita, P., Usman, M., Link, A. & Conrad, C. (2023b). Mapping Potentially Groundwater-Dependent Vegetation in the Mediterranean Biome Using Global Geodata Targeting Site Conditions and Vegetation Characteristics. Science of The Total Environment, 898, 166397. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166397.Publication IIIEl-Hokayem, L., Damasceno, G., Sabatini, F. M., Bruelheide, H., Bonari, G., Dwyer, C., Gonçalves, F., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Millett, J., Peñuelas, J., Svenning, J.-C., Altman, J., Chen, H. Y. H., Dziuba, T., El-Sheikh, M. A., Güler, B., Hending, D., Hérault, B., Hatim, M. Z., Jansen, F., Meyer, C., Mukul, S.A., Pielech, R., Rodrigues, F., Wang, H-F., Conrad, C. (2026). A global map of groundwater-dependent vegetation in the Mediterranean biome. Ecological Indicators, 183, 114669. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.11466928T.