Ancient dominance of theQuercus calliprinos ‐ Pistacia palaestinaassociation in mediterranean Israel

Abstract.The natural Mediterranean maquis and forest vegetation of Israel is commonly considered to be composed mainly of four, roughly equal components:Pinus halepensis, deciduous oak, evergreen oak, andCeratonia ‐ Pistaciacommunities. They represent the past climax and subclimax of this region. Evidence accumulated from pollen analysis and wood remnant research in geological and archaeological excavations, as well as from written historical sources, shows that this view is wrong: the ancient vegetation in this area was dominated byQuercus calliprinos.