Ectoparasites of the common gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi Rothmann) from the Aures Region, Algeria.

Ctenodactylus gundi were captured in the southern region of Aures, Algeria from December 2015 through June 2017 to assess their ectoparasite diversity. 63.5% of the gundi had one or more ectoparasites, while 36.5% had none. Eight species of ectoparasites were identified. The most abundant taxa were species of Neotrombicula (61.5%), Trombicula (10.6%), and Caenopsylla mira (4.8%). The mean intensity for arachnids follows: Neotrombicula spp. (14.3), Trombicula spp. (10.6), and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (1.6). Among arachnids, mean intensity of males was greater than females in contrast to that of the flea C. mira, whose mean intensity for females was 4.8 compared to that of males with 2.8. C. mira and Xenopsylla cheopis have previously been reported on the gundi, while the mites Neotrombicula spp., Trombicula spp., Eulaelaps stabularis, O. bacoti, the tick Rh. (Boophilus) annulatus and the louse Polyplax serrata are reported here for the first time. Prevalence was influenced by host sex and was higher in males than females. The highest prevalence was recorded in species of Neotrombicula (39.2%) and Trombicula (20.3%). The abundance of these ectoparasites was directly influenced with climatic conditions specially with temperature (P=0.0002), and air humidity (P=0.0014).

[Importance of Shaw's Jird Meriones shawii within the trophic components of the Barn Owl Tyto alba in steppic areas of Algeria]. / Importance de la Mérione de Shaw Meriones shawii au sein des composantes trophiques de la Chouette effraie Tyto alba en milieux steppiques de l'Algérie.

The study of the diet of the Barn Owl in two steppic regions (M'Sila and Djelfa) located in the Algerian highlands is based on the analysis of the pellets of rejections collected in six stations. The analysis of 706 pellets resulting from the various stations made it possible to count 1380 individuals, represented by seven classes, 12 orders, 32 families, and 76 species of preys. The mammals are consumed with variable abundance rates between 59.1 % and 90.0 % whose predominance is assigned to the rodents (relative abundance: AR > 58 %). The latter constitute the most advantageous preys in biomass (61.4 ≤ B % ≤ 99.2). The most consumed prey is Meriones shawii, with variable rates between 31.9 % and 76.6 %. Generally, Tyto alba presents a diversified diet in the majority of the stations (0.69 ≤ E ≤ 0.76), except the station of Ain El-Hadjel (E = 0.35), with a low diversity and dominance of M. shawii (AR = 76.6 %).

Prey selection by nesting House Martins Delichon urbica Linné, 1758 (Aves: Hirundinidae) in Algiers suburbs (Algeria).

The diet of the House Martin Delichon urbica was analyzed in a suburban area in Pins maritimes, northeast of Algiers (Algeria). The diet was determined by analyzing 120 faecal samples collected from a breeding colony between April and September 2007. Insects were the most numerous prey types (99.86%). Hymenopterans were the dominant preys (56.99%), followed by Coleopterans (20.14%), Homopterans (14.22%), Heteropterans (5.45%), and Dipterans (3.10%). Division of the prey items into families demonstrated that the highest relative frequency was large Hymenopterans in the family Formicidae (54.0%). The dominant species in the diet was Tetramorium biskrensis, which comprised 32.6% of the diet. It was followed by Camponotus barbaricus (6.9%) and Monomorium salomonis (5.6%). Comparison between diet and availability of preys using the Savage index showed that T. biskrensis, Crematogaster scutelaris, Pheidole pallidula, Diptera sp. unident. and Aphidae sp. unident. were positively selected by D. urbica.

An avifaunal survey of mesic manmade ecosystems "Oases" in algerian hot-hyperarid lands.

Man made ecosystems of dry lands are key habitats due to their ecological characteristics to survey biodiversity. This study investigated bird diversity in three oases of the Northern Algerian Sahara (i.e., Biskra in 2006, Oued Souf in 2008 and Ouargla in 2009), by using the spot-mapping method. Bird density "D" (pairs/10 ha), species richness "S" (number species), diversity (Shannon index) "H'" (in bits), and evenness "E" varied from one oasis to another (Biskra: D = 98.5, S = 47, H' = 4.49, E = 0.81; Oued Souf: D = 96, S = 33, H' = 3.9, E = 0.77; Ouargla: D = 91.5, S = 44, H' = 4.39, E = 0.80). Differences in bird diversity between the monitored palm groves are due to the ecological characteristics of each environment. Documented literature outlined close taxonomic similarities between bird assemblages of the study area with many Northern Saharan oases. The Hybrid Sparrow Passer domesticus x Passer. hispaniolensis and some Columbidae species including Columba livia, Streptopelia turtur, Streptopelia senegalensis, and Streptopelia decaocto were the abundant species throughout surveyed oases in which they represented more than half (55.6%) of the sum of species densities (D = 286 pairs/10 ha). These synthropic species have known a huge expansion of their distribution range throughout Algerian oases. The correspondence analysis allowed the aggregation of both families and species into oasis they belong to. One-way ANOVA was tested to analyse variations of both family and species densities between studied oases. The ANOVA revealed there was no significant variation either in family densities (p = 0.937) or in bird densities (p = 0.622) between the surveyed oases because of the small size of bird populations.