Abstract
The biodiversity and quality of subterranean waters were comparatively studied in the Tarf plain near Oum-El-Bouaghi and in the Ksar S’bahi in Oum-El-Bouaghi, in North-eastern Algeria. For this purpose, physicochemical and faunistic analyses were carried out on the water of ten stations located in the area of Tarf, and thirteen in the area of S’bahi. In the wells of Tarf, the average stygobiologic diversity was relatively high in the wells located upstream the dumping site from the city where the groundwater presented low contents of nitrates and orthophosphates. In contrast, the wells located in the spreading zone of Tarf wastewaters were characterized by the scarcity or the absence of stygobic species; in these latter wells, the water was highly polluted. It was rich in nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, and the conductivity was rather high. In the area of S’bahi, the faunistic inventory recorded ten species, some of which were living in hot springs. The subterranean water was highly mineralized. In the two studied areas, biodiversity decreased when well water was locally polluted.
Highlights
Groundwater accounts for 97% of liquid continental freshwater (Bosca, 2002) and in several regions of the world, humans depend on the existence and quality of this limited and fragile resource: 75-90% of the world's population uses groundwater (Taouil et al, 2013)
The aquatic groundwater ecosystem is a biological system containing an entire zoocenosis, the diversity of which is an important characteristic that can provide information on the quality or pollution level of the aquifer (Merzoug et al, 2008; Merzoug et al, 2011). It is in this context that we present a comparative study of the biodiversity and quality of groundwater in two regions of north-eastern Algeria, located respectively in the vicinity of the region of El Tarf (South-East Oum-ElBouaghi Algeria) and of the city of OumEl-Bouaghi (KsarS’bahi)
In the El Tarf region, from the selected stations, three wells were located within an agricultural zone (P4, P5, and P6), two others were located downstream of the Djebel Tarf, (P1 and P2), located inside the douar next to the household waste dump and the other wells were distributed in the plain of the Mechta (Ouled Abdelouhabab) south of the city of Oum-El-Bouaghi (Figure 1)
Summary
Groundwater accounts for 97% of liquid continental freshwater (Bosca, 2002) and in several regions of the world, humans depend on the existence and quality of this limited and fragile resource: 75-90% of the world's population uses groundwater (Taouil et al, 2013) This underlines the importance of studying groundwater in all its components to gain a better understanding of these ecosystems and to introduce new scientific concepts for management, development, monitoring, protection, and conservation (Danielopol et al, 2004). The aquatic groundwater ecosystem is a biological system containing an entire zoocenosis, the diversity of which is an important characteristic that can provide information on the quality or pollution level of the aquifer (Merzoug et al, 2008; Merzoug et al, 2011) It is in this context that we present a comparative study of the biodiversity and quality of groundwater in two regions of north-eastern Algeria, located respectively in the vicinity of the region of El Tarf (South-East Oum-ElBouaghi Algeria) and of the city of OumEl-Bouaghi (KsarS’bahi)
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