ECOLOGY OF WILD EMMER WHEAT IN MEDITERRANEAN GRASSLANDS IN GALILEE

Abstract

Aaronsohn in 1909 noted that Triticum dicoccoides was found mainly in rocky habitats. Recent research in Mediterranean grasslands in Galilee supports the hypothesis that rocks served as refuges from intensive grazing. Although proximity of rocks enhances early germination of Triticum, cattle grazing intensity is the major factor determining its abundance. At high grazing intensity, it is absent or survives only among rocks. At moderate grazing intensity it is common not only near rocks. In ungrazed sites it sometimes becomes dominant, but in the long term is often suppressed by perennial grasses. Fitness of Triticum plants in intensively grazed populations was only half that of plants in ungrazed populations, mainly because of damage to maturing ears.

After grass fires, Triticum cover increased in ungrazed grasslands, as the cover of perennials was reduced. In ungrazed or lightly grazed grasslands, severe reductions of Triticum populations were observed during population eruptions of the Levant vole, followed by slow recovery. The dynamics of T. dicoccoides in grasslands of Galilee results from an interaction of rock microrelief, seasonal rainfall pattern, livestock grazing regime, perennial grass cover, fires, and vole eruptions. The least risky management strategy recommended for in situ conservation of Triticum populations is cattle grazing at moderate intensity, avoiding intensive grazing in the reproductive stage but also avoiding long periods without any grazing. The sensitivity of wild emmer to grazing has implications for the history of domestication and the beginnings of agriculture.