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The dynamics of soluble salts concentration in the soil was investigated at seven research stations in Israel that represent four climatic regions: Mediterranean, semi-arid, mildly arid and arid. Measurements were taken in different seasons from soils that were developed on hillslopes, which are consisted of hard calcareous rocks. The relationship between the soluble salts content and rainfall was found to be non-linear. An abiotic threshold, which is characterized by a sharp change in the soluble salts content, exists around 200 mm isohyet: sites that receive less than 200 mm rainfall are characterized by significantly high soluble salts content whereas sites that receive more than 200 mm are characterized by very low soluble salts content. Each side of this abiotic threshold expresses typical behavior that can be defined as "environmental signature". At the "dry" side of the threshold temporal heterogeneity, rate of change, potential of change and differences between layers are higher than those at the "wet" side of the threshold. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.