Jordan is characterized as a “water scarce” country. Therefore, conserving ecosystem services such as water regulation and soil retention is challenging. In Jordan, rainwater harvesting has been adapted to meet those challenges. However, the spatial composition and configuration features of a target landscape are rarely considered when selecting a rainwater-harvesting site. This study aimed to introduce landscape spatial features into the schemes for selecting a proper water-harvesting site. Landscape metrics analysis was used to quantify 10 metrics for three potential landscapes (i.e., Watershed 104 (WS 104), Watershed 59 (WS 59), and Watershed 108 (WS 108)) located in the Jordanian Badia region. Results of the metrics analysis showed that the three non–vegetative land cover types in the three landscapes were highly suitable for serving as rainwater harvesting sites. Furthermore, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritize the fitness of the three target sites by comparing their landscape metrics. Results of AHP indicate that the non-vegetative land cover in the WS 104 landscape was the most suitable site for rainwater harvesting intervention, based on its dominance, connectivity, shape, and low degree of fragmentation. Our study advances the water harvesting network design by considering its landscape spatial pattern.

With the Xylella fastidiosa outbreak in Europe affecting olive and other major crops, the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) signaled a red warning light to prevent its entry into Jordan. An intensive survey was performed from 2016 to 2021 to assess its spread in Jordan across a range of agricultural crops in parallel to the previously published survey on olives. Grapevine (no. of samples: 899), stone fruit trees (1,480), citrus fruit trees (1,225), pome fruit trees (292), and ornamental plants (1,351) growing in Jordan were sampled. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic plants were sampled, in addition to collecting potential insect vectors from Hemiptera species. Plant samples were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits, and their results were confirmed by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using three sets of primers. Insect samples were tested using RST31/RST33 PCR. The obtained results did not show any confirmed positive results in any sample. These results indicate that X. fastidiosa has not been detected in Jordan despite a comprehensive survey. These results also demonstrate the importance of the monitoring and inspection programs executed by the MoA for detection of X. fastidiosa and identifying its potential insect vectors; these programs should be continued to prevent the entry of this bacterium and its potential insect vectors into Jordan from the neighboring countries.