Abstract

The wetlands complex of Guerbes- Sanhadja (site Ramsar since 2002) is amoung the major important coastal wetlands for the reception of migrating or wintering water birds in the Mediterranean. For the purpose of understanding the overall functioning of this ecosystem, we have planned to study the ecology of one of these faunal components which is "Waterbirds" and especially diving ducks, which are used to identify internationally important wetlands under the Ramsar convention. Our study was conducted on two seasons of wintering (2013-2014/2014-2015) basing on the study of phenology and diurnal behavior of these ducks. The results showed that the diving ducks who attend the eco-complex of Guerbes - Sanhadja and specifically Garaet Hadj Tahar (the most diverse site in the region) are represented by four species: Ferruginous duck, the White-headed duck (two species reported on the red list of the IUCN), Common pochard and Tufted Duck. This site hosts a significant numbers of these species, where the observed maximum of the Ferruginous duck exceeds 680 individuals. It also hosts the majority of the numbers of White-headed duck in Algeria, with Tonga Lake (national Park of El kala) and Boussedra pond where the maximum numbers of this duck reached 350 individuals. The wintering population of Tufted Duck reached 158 individuals, and that of Common pochard 111 individuals. The Open areas and deepest ones (center and west of the Garaet) are most occupied by these ducks. As for the study diurnal time budgets, it showed that Garaet Hadj Tahar is used by these birds as a resting area, where the main activities that occur are the comfort activities (sleeping, swimming, eating and toilet). The factorial analysis of correspondence (FAC) of his data allowed us to set up a real time distribution of these measured in time activities.
Key words: phenology, spatio-temporal occupation, diving ducks, Guerbes-Sanhadja, Algeria.

Information

Item Type:	Thesis
Divisions:
ePrint ID:	1031
Date Deposited:	2017-12-19
Further Information:	Google Scholar
URI:	https://www.univ-soukahras.dz/en/publication/article/1031

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