Reptile diversity and rodent community structure across a political border Uri Shanas a,b,c, *, Yunes Abu Galyun d , Mohammed Alshamlih d , Jonathan Cnaani c , Dalit (Ucitel) Guscio c , Fares Khoury d , Shacham Mittler a , Khaled Nassar e , Idan Shapira a , Danny Simon f , Hatem Sultan e , Elad Topel c,g , Yaron Ziv g a Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, University of Haifa, Israel b Department of Biology, University of Haifa-Oranim, Israel c Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Kibbutz Ketura, Israel d Biology Department, Hashemite University, Zerka, Jordan e Society for Sustainable Development, Jordan f Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Israel g Department of Biology, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 25 January 2006 Received in revised form 4 April 2006 Accepted 12 April 2006 Available online 9 June 2006 Keywords: Reptile Rodent Diversity Agriculture Desert Culture ABSTRACT The peace treaty between Israel and Jordan found the Arava desert ecosystem, shared by the two countries, in a state of developmental dichotomy. On the Israeli side, vast lands have been settled and transformed into agricultural fields, while the Jordanian side has remained relatively intact and inhabited by only a few traditional and pastoral societies. This study examined the effect of different landscape units and proximity to agriculture on reptile diversity and rodent community structure on both sides of the border. It appears that in addition to the effect of proximity to agricultural fields and landscape habitat, the border between the two countries may play a role in determining diversity on the respec- tive sides. While reptile abundance was generally higher on the Israeli side of the border, diversity was found to be significantly higher on the Jordanian side. Rodent community structure also revealed significant differences between the two sides of the border, mainly due to the more favorable conditions for psammophilic gerbils in Jordan. When comparing Western society with pastoral traditional society, it appears that development activities of the former have altered diversity and community structure of the taxa studied in the Arava. We suggest that in addition to the effects of habitats and human disturbances, such as modern agricultural practices, cultural differences between societies should be considered when conservation plans are developed for cross-border ecosystems. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Human societies that emerge from a state of war or a long- term conflict into a peaceful environment may gain many benefits, among them economic growth (Blomberg and Hess, 2002). However, while economic growth may often satisfy short-term needs, it may also imply an increase in the amount of resources used (Primack, 1998), consequently lead- ing to habitat destruction and loss. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty ending 45 years of hostility. The treaty 0006-3207/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.04.021 * Corresponding author: Tel.: +972 4 9838703; fax: +972 4 9832167. E-mail address: shanas@research.haifa.ac.il (U. Shanas). BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 132 (2006) 292 – 299 available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon