Status and Decline of the Amphibians of Israel

Israel is in the southeastern part of the Mediterranean region in the juxtaposition of three continents and functions as a biogeographical corridor that enables both terrestrial and aquatic organisms to disperse between Africa and Eurasia. As a result, the Israeli freshwater fauna contains species from African, Asian, Eurasian, and Arabic zoogeographic origins. In geological perspective, the Levantine freshwater systems faced repeated fluctuations in water level, alteration in the direction of streamflow, and dissociation and reconnection of fragmented bodies of water that have influenced species diversity at a slow, evolutionary rate. In recent times, local demand for land and freshwater inflicted various anthropogenic impacts on the Israeli freshwater ecosystems, in the shape of draining of wetlands, diverting water for agricultural development, and in the discharging of polluted wastewater into streams and riverbeds. In parallel, local climatic changes generated an increase in aridity and evaporation rates that have additionally decreased the quality of natural freshwater ecosystems.