Water Birds as Indicators of Ecological Conditions in a Ramsar Wetland (Sebkhet Bazer, East of Algeria)

Abstract

Background: Wetlands are the highly complex ecosystems due to various interactions between the components, where, the most iconic of ecological changes are the water birds. The current study was aimed to examine the interactions between the water birds diversity, abundance and the abiotic factors in Sebkhet Bazer. Methods: The investigation was conducted between March 2013 and December 2014 in Sebkhet Bazer (Sétif, Algeria, 36°05'N and 5°45'E), by monitoring water birds abundance (grouped into 4: Anatidae, Rallidae, Phoenicopteridae and Shorebirds) and measuring the physico-chemical water parameters (depth, temperature, pH, salinity and vegetation cover). All statistical analysis was performed using the InfoStat software (2017), it was carried out in two steps, by testing of fixed linear models; first of the seasonal differences in water body variables and second of the seasonal differences in bird abundance for the 4 water bird groups. Result: The results showed that the physico-chemical parameters of water varied considerably from season to season. The four groups of birds reached their lowest abundance in summer, with Rallidae and Phonicopteridae being more abundant in spring, Anatidae in winter and Shorebirds in autumn, suggesting that this variation is attributed to changes in water body characteristics between the four seasons. Therefore, the abundance of the different water bird group could be used as an ecological indicator of this wetland’s characteristics. If these features are altered by climate change, the water bird community would be also affected.