An ecological survey of Laro-limicolae in Northeastern Algeria

M. Nebbache1, A. Lazli2, Abdennour Boucheker3, Montse Ferrer4

1 Chadli Bendjedid University, El Tarf, Algeria; 2 Chadli Bendjedid University, , Algeria; 3 Badji Mokhtar Annaba University,, Guelma, Algeria; 4 Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, Ps Picasso s/n., 08758, Barcelona, Spain

Corresponding author(s): M. NebbacheA. LazliAbdennour Boucheker (babdennour2007@yahoo.fr)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Nebbache, M., Lazli, A., Boucheker, A., 2023. An ecological survey of Laro-limicolae in Northeastern Algeria. Version 1.5. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. Datapaper. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15470/tehczv

Abstract

We conducted an inventory and characterization of Laro-limicolae settlement at three Ramsar sites located in Eastern Numidia (Lake Tonga, Lake Oubeira and El Mellah lagoon) between 2014 and 2016. We identified 27 species belonging to six families, dominated by Scolopacidae (10 sp.) and Laridae (9 sp.) followed by Charadriidae (4 sp.), Recurvirostridae (2 sp.) and for Glareolidae and Haematopodidae families (1sp.) Inventoried species exhibited different phenological status: resident (26%), wintering (44%), migratory breeders (19%) and wintering/breeding (11%). Population analysis showed the presence of protected species such as black-tailed godwit and Northern lapwing. Bird counts showed monthly variations in total abundance and richness, peaking during winter. Highest numbers were recorded in January and lowest numbers in August. Analysis of diversity and equitability indices indicated that maximum values (H’ = 3.01 and E = 0.94) were noted at El Mellah lagoon in November and at Lake Oubeira in June. Our study provides recent and unpublished data on a group of birds that are little- documented for North Africa, particularly for Algeria.  Our findings open the way for further, more detailed work on the subject, and may serve to develop action plans for the management and conservation of these bird populations and their habitats.

Keywords: Laro-limicolae, Eastern Numidia, Inventory, Count, Ecological indices, Samplingevent

Project details

Project title: An ecological survey of Laro-limicolae in Northeastern Algeria
Personnel: A. Boucheker
Funding: This research was supported by the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS) and the General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development (DGRS¬DT).
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The study was carried out at three Ramsar wetlands in the El-Kala National Park, located in the extreme north eastern Algeria (fig. 1): 
1) Lake Tonga (36° 51’ N/ 8°29’ E), a large shallow exorheic lake with an area of 2,700 ha and an average depth of 1 m. It is fed by three tributaries: the El-Hout wadi from the southeast, the El-Eurg wadi from the east, and the Messida Channel from the north (fig. 1). Due to the richness and diversity of its habitats, it is a renowned wintering and breeding site for a multitude of waterbird species, some of which are rare and declining in range, such as the white-headed duck Oxyura leucocephala and the marbled teal Marmaronetta angustirostris (Boumezbeur, 1993; Lazli et al., 2011a, 2011b, 2012; Menasria and Lazli, 2017; Mecif et al., 2020; Gherib et al., 2021).
2)  Lake Oubeïra (36° 50’ N/ 8°23’ E), an endorheic freshwater lake with an area of 2,200 ha and an average depth of 2.15 m (fig. 1). With a typical spatial organisation of belt vegetation, it is considered a wintering and nesting site, hosting numerous species, such as the Greylag Goose Anser anser, the Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and several shorebird species, such as the Pied avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, the black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus, the little ringed plover Charadrius dubius and the Eurasian bittern Botaurus stellaris (DGF, 2002; Lazli et al., 2018).
3) - El-Mellah lagoon (36° 53’ N / 8° 19’ E), the only lagoon on the Algeria coast, connected to the sea by a 900 meter channel. It has a surface area of 860 ha and is ranked fifth largest among the 14 North African lagoons (Baba Ahmed, 2008). This lagoon is not only fueled by marine waters, which are partly responsible for its brackish nature, but also by the gentle waters of two wadis: R'guibet and Boularoug (fig. 1).
Design description: To assess richness and abundance of Laro-limicolae species in the three Ramsar sites we made bi-weekly visits from September to August 2014/2015 and from September to August 2015/2016. We conducted a total of 192 counts. At each visit, the sites were systematically covered, following a course chosen in advance (fig. 1). Censuses of avian populations were carried out from various points to allow the most exhaustive count of species and their numbers. Observations of Laro-limicolae were made from 8:00 h to 16:00 h using a telescope (Kowa™ 20 x 60). Because we were able to count the birds at short range it was easy to determine the exact number of birds and their species using the scanning sampling protocol.

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=laro-limicolas_argelia_23

Taxonomic coverage

Taxonomic ranks
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Glareolidae, Haematopodidae, Recurvirostridae, Scolopacidae, Charadriidae, Laridae

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: The study was carried out at three Ramsar wetlands in the El-Kala National Park, located in the extreme north eastern Algeria: 
1) Lake Tonga (36° 51’ N/ 8°29’ E), a large shallow exorheic lake with an area of 2,700 ha and an average depth of 1 m. It is fed by three tributaries: the El-Hout wadi from the southeast, the El-Eurg wadi from the east, and the Messida Channel from the north. Due to the richness and diversity of its habitats, it is a renowned wintering and breeding site for a multitude of waterbird species, some of which are rare and declining in range, such as the white-headed duck Oxyura leucocephala and the marbled teal Marmaronetta angustirostris (Boumezbeur, 1993; Lazli et al., 2011a, 2011b, 2012; Menasria and Lazli, 2017; Mecif et al., 2020; Gherib et al., 2021).
2)  Lake Oubeïra (36° 50’ N/ 8°23’ E), an endorheic freshwater lake with an area of 2,200 ha and an average depth of 2.15 m. With a typical spatial organisation of belt vegetation, it is considered a wintering and nesting site, hosting numerous species, such as the Greylag Goose Anser anser, the Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and several shorebird species, such as the Pied avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, the black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus, the little ringed plover Charadrius dubius and the Eurasian bittern Botaurus stellaris (DGF, 2002; Lazli et al., 2018).
3) - El-Mellah lagoon (36° 53’ N / 8° 19’ E), the only lagoon on the Algeria coast, connected to the sea by a 900 meter channel. It has a surface area of 860 ha and is ranked fifth largest among the 14 North African lagoons (Baba Ahmed, 2008). This lagoon is not only fueled by marine waters, which are partly responsible for its brackish nature, but also by the gentle waters of two wadis: R'guibet and Boularoug.
Coordinates: 36°49'48''N and 36°51'0''N Latitude; 8°18'0''E and 8°30'0''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: September 1, 2014 - August 31, 2016

Methods

Method step description: Phenological status observed: (1) resident; observed throughout the year; (2) wintering; observed only in the winter;  (3) migratory breeders; observed only in breeding season;  (4) wintering/breeding, observed during winter and breeding season.
Statistical data analysis
To perform comparisons between years we used a Chi-square test and a multivariate factor analysis (CFA)). Statistical analyses were applied using R- version software. 4.3.1 (R Core Team, 2023).
Study extent description: The study was carried out at three Ramsar wetlands in the El-Kala National Park, located in the extreme north eastern Algeria (fig. 1): 
1) Lake Tonga (36° 51’ N/ 8°29’ E), a large shallow exorheic lake with an area of 2,700 ha and an average depth of 1 m. It is fed by three tributaries: the El-Hout wadi from the southeast, the El-Eurg wadi from the east, and the Messida Channel from the north (fig. 1). Due to the richness and diversity of its habitats, it is a renowned wintering and breeding site for a multitude of waterbird species, some of which are rare and declining in range, such as the white-headed duck Oxyura leucocephala and the marbled teal Marmaronetta angustirostris (Boumezbeur, 1993; Lazli et al., 2011a, 2011b, 2012; Menasria and Lazli, 2017; Mecif et al., 2020; Gherib et al., 2021).
2)  Lake Oubeïra (36° 50’ N/ 8°23’ E), an endorheic freshwater lake with an area of 2,200 ha and an average depth of 2.15 m (fig. 1). With a typical spatial organisation of belt vegetation, it is considered a wintering and nesting site, hosting numerous species, such as the Greylag Goose Anser anser, the Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and several shorebird species, such as the Pied avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, the black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus, the little ringed plover Charadrius dubius and the Eurasian bittern Botaurus stellaris (DGF, 2002; Lazli et al., 2018).
3) - El-Mellah lagoon (36° 53’ N / 8° 19’ E), the only lagoon on the Algeria coast, connected to the sea by a 900 meter channel. It has a surface area of 860 ha and is ranked fifth largest among the 14 North African lagoons (Baba Ahmed, 2008). This lagoon is not only fueled by marine waters, which are partly responsible for its brackish nature, but also by the gentle waters of two wadis: R'guibet and Boularoug (fig. 1).
Sampling description: To assess richness and abundance of Laro-limicolae species in the three Ramsar sites we made bi-weekly visits from September to August 2014/2015 and from September to August 2015/2016. We conducted a total of 192 counts. At each visit, the sites were systematically covered, following a course chosen in advance (fig. 1). Censuses of avian populations were carried out from various points to allow the most exhaustive count of species and their numbers. Observations of Laro-limicolae were made from 8:00 h to 16:00 h using a telescope (Kowa™ 20 x 60). Because we were able to count the birds at short range it was easy to determine the exact number of birds and their species using the scanning sampling protocol.
Quality control description: Laro-limicolae phenology and ecology were measured using  the following  ecological indices: (1) total abundance, that is,  the total number of birds that visited site on a given day; (2) specific richness,  that is, the number of species observed at a given visit; and (3); the Shannon-Weaver diversity index,  that is a way to measure the diversity of a species in a community (this index was  calculated according to the formula H' = ΣPi ln Pi, 
where Pi is the proportion of each specie in the sample,  and (4) equitability index, is a way to measure the evenness of species in a community (this index is calculated as:
E = H'/ln(S),  where S is the total number of unique species and when E is close to 1;  the diversity observed reflects an abundance distribution close to equilibrium (Legendre and Legendre, 1979; Shannon and Weaver, 1949).

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive An ecological survey of Laro-limicolae in Northeastern Algeria
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.gbif.es/archive.do?r=laro-limicolas_argelia_23
Publication date of data: 2023-12-20
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2023-11-22
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Nebbache, M., Lazli, A., Boucheker, A., 2023. An ecological survey of Laro-limicolae in Northeastern Algeria. Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 21 - https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2023.21.0261 https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2023.21.0261