Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I read the MS. Overall, it brings up many data and presents a nice overview of fauna that is a start for future more detailed studies. I have two major comments. The first one is that methods should be better explained. Especially the multivariate analyses should be elaborated to warrant repeatability; state also the software you were using. The second one refers to results; some of them could be more elaborated. Among others, I miss cave clusters on a map. Moreover, when analyzing similarities among caves, distance between localities might be a strong explanatory variable. My comments are included directly in the text.

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Reviewer 2 Report

I have greatly enjoyed reading this comprehensive study on Israeli/Palestine cave spiders. The authors are commended on this thorough and well written and well illustrated study. I have only very few and minor comments that may help improve this manuscript, which I have added to the document itself.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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