Shachak, M., Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Boeken, B., Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Groner, E., Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Kadmon, R., Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Lubin, Y., Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Meron, E., Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Physics Department, Marcus Family Campus, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Ne'eman, G., Department of Biology, University of Haifa-Oranim, Tivon, Israel
Perevolotsky, A., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
Shkedy, Y., Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority
Ungar, E.D., Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel

Ecological research on organism-environment interactions has developed asymmetrically. Modulation of organisms by the environment has received much attention, while theoretical studies on the environmental impact of organisms have until recently been limited. We propose a theoretical framework for studying the environmental impacts of woody plants in order to understand their effects on biodiversity. We adopt pattern formation theory to discuss how woody plants organize ecological systems on the patch and landscape levels through patch formation, and how organism patchiness creates resource patchiness that affects biodiversity. We suggest an integrative model that links organisms as landscape modulators through resource distribution and species filtering from larger to smaller spatial scales. Our "biodiversity cycling hypothesis" states that in organism-modulated landscapes, disturbance enables the coexistence of different developmental stages of vegetation patches, thereby increasing biodiversity. This hypothesis emphasizes that species and landscape diversity vary with the development, renewal, maturation, and decay of biotically induced patches. © 2008 American Institute of Biological Sciences.