Multi-annual and seasonal patterns of waterbird assemblages in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (El Mellah lagoon) of Northeastern Algeria

Abstract

telailia S., Boutabia L., khemis El-Hak M.D., Elafri a., Djebbari n.: Multi-annual and seasonal patterns of waterbird assemblages in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (El Mellah lagoon) of northeastern algeria. Ekológia (Bratislava), vol. 36, no. 2, p. 146-158 , 2017. recently, Mediterranean coastal lagoons have raised considerable environmental concerns. Long-term studies of seasonal changes in waterbird assemblages are therefore extremely important in terms of ecological relevance and conservation of these sensitive ecosystems. an ornithological survey of four years was carried out in a typical costal wetland (El Mellah lagoon) of northeastern algeria. intra-seasonal comparison of waterbird assemblages (diversity indices) demonstrates clear changes between the wintering and the breeding periods. it seems that the first one was rich in term of species number than the second season (43 against 24). in contrast, the breeding seasons were more equilibrate (high values of Simpson, Shannon and evenness index). additionally, curves in the diversity/dominance diagram revealed that both wintering and breeding assemblages share the same characteristics of community structure, few dominant species (with intermediate relative abundance) and many rare species with the relative abundance lower than 0.1. invertebrates (25 species) and piscivorous (11 species) are the most abundant guilds over the four years of study (no significant differences among years have been calculated). The marked decline in bird species diversity recorded in this study (in comparison with previous studies) is mainly due to salinity oscillations (due to aquaculture activities) and may be of concern to wetland managers and it might be useful to provide some guidelines about the characteristics that coastal lagoons have to follow in the construction process to enhance the biodiversity.

Some Population Aspects of Common Tern Sterna hirundo Breeding in Algeria at a Small Mediterranean Island (East Coast of Algeria)

“…Fasola, Bogliani (1990) recorded that the foraging distribution of Common Terns depended on the location of their preferred habitats, which were available only at given distances from the colonies. The colony was observed in neighboring El Mellah lagoon (Telailia et al, 2017); this lagoon has been referred by Chaoui et al (2006) with a very important diversity, richness and abundance of ichtyofauna.…”

Population dynamics and wintering behavior of the black–headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus at El Mellah lagoon (Northeastern Algeria)

“…Two hundred phytoplankton species (Retima, 1999) and 47 zooplankton species (Haridi, 1999) have been identified. El Mellah lagoon hosts a very diverse avifauna composed of Anatidae, Laridae, Sternidae, and Phalacrocoracidae (Brahmia, 2002;Telailia et al, 2017).…”

Social-Environmental Analysis for the Management of Coastal Lagoons in North Africa

“…As this is a species of economic value, the delivery of provisioning ES has declined. Furthermore, the change in salinity, due to aquaculture activities, has caused a decline in bird species diversity (2013−2017) degrading cultural services, such as bird watching (Telailia et al, 2017).…”

“…Algeria built a UWWTP behind El Mellah lagoon, but the water quality is still poor with respect to fecal microbes (Kherifi and Bousnoubra-Kherici, 2016). There is an unresolved conflict between the managers of the El Kala National Park and the inputters to this lagoon, mainly industries and farmers (Telailia et al, 2017).…”