RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus as a focal species for conserving water resources in Mauritanian Sahara
A1 Tellería, José Luis
A1 Ghaillani, Hamoud El Mamy
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
A1 Bartolomé, Juan
A1 Montiano, Emilio
K1 Crocodylus niloticus
K1 desert
K1 focal species
K1 Mauritania
K1 reserve design
K1 Sahara
K1 water management
AB A survey on the Tagant Plateau, Mauritania, todesign a reserve for the crocodile Crocodylus niloticusrevealed that the area is occupied by a crocodile populationlarger than expected. Crocodiles occur in lakes and poolsalong seasonal rivers that form an inner hydrographicalnetwork. Reported movements of individuals during thesummer floods suggested that it is necessary to protect thewhole 700 km-long hydrological network to preserve interpoolconnectivity. However, the basin is occupied by40,000 people that are completely dependent on waterfrom the hydrological network. Thus it was important topropose a reserve network that would reconcile both theprotection of biodiversity and human use of water resources.Considering the symbolic role of crocodiles for manyMauritanians, the acceptance of their presence by thepeople of Tagant, and the increasing use by tourismagencies of some pools for crocodile-watching, the speciesmay be a good focal species for promoting the conservationof the whole hydrological network of the Tagant Plateau.
PB Cambridge University Press
YR 2008
FD 2008
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/17917
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/17917
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 16-jul-2024