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 27-dic-2024