Close to the Madding Crowd: Waterbird Responses to Land Use Conversion in and Around a Mediterranean Urban Wetland

Abstract

Investigating how Mediterranean wetlands respond to adjacent land use conversion, is an important rst step in mitigating the impact of human encroachment and other environmental stressors. We monitored the composition and structure of waterbird assemblages, in a Mediterranean urban marsh, subjected to severe anthropogenic pressures. Remote sensing indicated that in the last two decades Boussedra Pond was subjected to land ll, resulting in a substantial reduction (~ 50%) of the marsh, while due to a lack of urban planning urban built-up and agriculture areas expanded considerably in its surroundings. Seasonal changes in the diversity of waterbirds, including the globally Endangered (EN) White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala and the Near-Threatened (NT) Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca, re ected the importance of the site as a staging and wintering area for many migratory species. The long-term study also suggested that breeding waterbirds species respond differentially to the loss and degradation of habitats, as highlighted by the resilience of the synanthropic Moorhen Gallinula chloropus and the disappearance of several breeding marsh specialists, like the Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus and the Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus. The study points out the need for both a coordinated cross-sectorial land use planning and an immediate, affordable and sustainable wetland conservation action.

A Systematic Review of the Latest Research Trends on the Use of Satellite Imagery in Solid Waste Disposal Applications from 2012 to 2021

“…Increased population growth and rapid urban development have brought new challenges to SWM in both developing [5][6][7] and developed countries [8][9][10]. In situ data collection and frequent field monitoring of environmental analysis are gradually replaced with newer and more efficient methods, such as remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques.…”