Study sites and their characteristics.

* Average annual precipitation refers to the years 1978–2008 (Israel Meteorological Service archives). Rainfall amounts for the years 2007 and 2008 are in parentheses.
† Average monthly temperature refers to average monthly temperatures between the years 1998–2008 (IMS archives). Average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures between the years 1998–2008 are presented in parentheses.
‡ Plant biomass is the average of 12 0.6×0.6 m samples per site per year for the years 2007–2010. NPP amounts for the sampled years are in parentheses.
Study sites and their characteristics.