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Distribution and abundance of the glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in wintering and breeding grounds in Northeast Algeria

Youcefi Abdeldjalil, Bensakhri Zinette, Bachir Abdelkrim Si, Atoussi Sadek, Zebsa Rabah

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2021

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Vol. 69, nr 3-4

193--204

EN

Atmospheric conditions play an important role in structuring avian communities in space and time. Here we assess the role of weather conditions on the distribution and abundance of the enigmatic glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in Northeast Algeria in both wintering grounds and in breeding areas in a survey spanning from 2011 to 2019. During the study period, cooler years were wetter and warmer years were drier. The wintering population size in the region could be estimated to 200-300 individuals. The number of individuals in wintering grounds increased in recent years in one site (Berrihane), but it did not show a strong association with weather conditions prior to wintering. Four breeding colonies were detected in highly-vegetated ponds with in-water trees where the number of breeding pairs was the highest. Extinction was recorded for two colonies (50% of colonies) where one permanently disappeared and one exhibited a series of extinctions and recolonizations across years. The estimated colony size was larger at El Dakhla (60–105 pairs) than El Chatt (0–42 pairs), Fezara Lake (25–41 pairs), and Tonga Lake (0–2 pairs). Climate conditions seemed to correlate with the number of pairs in one site (El Chatt) such that warm and dry years were associated with lower number of individuals. We discuss that disturbance and pollution might play a role in colony establishment but the number of pairs is positively related to the extinction of a nearby colony, suggesting that those refuge colonies are crucial for the persistence of the species in the area. This study presents historical data on the occurrence and abundance of a relatively unstudied species and gives new information on its climatic sensitivity which might be helpful for predicting future climate change impacts.

2

Breeding Ecology of the Iberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus : First Data from North Africa

Bougaham Abdelazize Franck

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2021

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Vol. 69, nr 1

51--56

EN

Till now, the breeding biology of several North African bird populations has been little studied, particularly that of the southern populations of Iberian chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus. In the present study, total of 31 nests of Iberian chiffchaff were monitored in the northeastern Algeria during 2013-2017. The nesting period, clutch and brood sizes, and reproductive success of the species were determined. The first egg-laying dates of the first broods were spread over the first twenty days of April. There were significant among-year variations in nesting seasons. The Iberian chiffchaff clutch sizes averaged 4.51 eggs. The number of hatchlings and fledglings averaged 4.09 and 3.54 nestlings, respectively. There is no correlation between the nest height above the ground and the hatching and the breeding success of the species. Predation and nest abandonment were the main causes of the breeding failure of the Iberian chiffchaff in studied population, however, in general the breeding success was high – 80.7%. Breeding data for the Iberian chiffchaff at the southern edge of its breeding range in North Africa show smaller clutches and production of fewer young compared to the common chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita in Europe.

3

Tidally dominated Miocene deltaic deposits and pipe rocks in the Tebessa Basin, eastern Algeria: sedimentological and ichnological characteristics

Mazrou Samia, Mahboubi Mohamed

Geologos

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2021

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Vol. 27, No. 1

15--34

EN

Analyses of sedimentology, ichnology and depositional environments of Langhian–Tortonian siliciclastic deposits in the southern Tebessa Basin (eastern Algeria) have revealed a tidally dominated deltaic setting with a high concentration of vertical burrows. From south to north, two depositional environments are here distinguished in the Tebessa Basin: a subaerial lower delta plain in the Oum Ali region with the trace fossils Ophiomorpha and Skolithos linearis, and a proximal delta front with numerous Skolithos, situated in the Hjer Essefra area. The occurrence of Skolithos pipe rock in this Miocene subtidal domain is unusual. Pipe rocks have been commonly reported from shallow and well-oxygenated environments, especially from Cambrian strata; their number decreased significantly during the Ordovician, coupled with an increase in biodiversity. Here different deltaic subenvironments and tidal signals that are exceptionally well preserved in outcrops are analysed and interpreted. Different ichnotaxa are briefly described, and the uncommon density and size of Skolithos pipe-rock in these Miocene strata are discussed.

4

Turkey’s approach to proxy war in the Middle East and North Africa

Yüksel Engin

Security and Defence Quarterly

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2020

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Vol. 31, No. 4

137--152

EN

The last decade has seen a growing trend towards the use of proxies in the Middle East and North Africa following the outbreak of the Arab Spring. In this context, the issue of Turkey’s approach to proxy war in these regions has received considerable attention since 2016. Thereby, the purpose of this article is to investigate the essential characteristics of Turkish proxy war strategy in Syria and Libya. As such, this study intends to trace the development of Turkish proxy war strategy by making use of the conceptual frameworks proposed by Groh (2019), O’Brien (2012) and Art (1998). The most obvious finding to emerge from the analysis is that Turkey changed its indirect intervention strategy from donated assistance to proxy warfare in Syria and Libya when it saw a greater need to influence the result of the conflicts. In the case of Syria, this study has shown that the controlthrough-centralisation approach towards the Armed Syrian Opposition has enabled Turkey to carry out an effective proxy war strategy from 2016 onwards. In Libya, the results of this investigation have shown that theTurkish Army has pursued a proxy war strategy since Ankara and the Government of National Accord (GNA) signed an agreement on security and military cooperation in December 2019. The article concludes that Turkey has centralised many revolutionary groups under an Islamist-nationalistic vision and partnered them with its own military in order to expand its influence in the Middle East and North Africa.

5

Roveacrinidae (Crinoidea, Articulata) from the Cenomanian and Turonian of North Africa (Agadir Basin and Anti-Atlas, Morocco, and central Tunisia): biostratigraphy and taxonomy

Gale Andrew Scott

Acta Geologica Polonica

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2020

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Vol. 70, no. 3

273--310

EN

Successions exposed in the Agadir Basin (upper Albian to middle Turonian), in the Anti-Atlas (lower Turonian) in Morocco and in central Tunisia (Cenomanian–Turonian) yield abundant microcrinoids of the family Roveacrinidae, which are described and assigned to 32 species and formae, in ten genera. The following new taxa are described: Fenestracrinus gen. nov. with the type species F. oculifer sp. nov., Discocrinus africanus sp. nov., Styracocrinus rimafera sp. nov., Lebenharticrinus quinvigintensis sp. nov., L. zitti sp. nov., Euglyphocrinus cristagalli sp. nov., E. jacobsae sp. nov., E. truncatus sp. nov., E. worthensis sp. nov., Roveacrinus gladius sp. nov., R. solisoccasum sp. nov. and Drepanocrinus wardorum sp. nov. In addition, the new subfamily Plotocrininae is erected. The stratigraphical distribution of the taxa in two important localities, Taghazout in the Agadir Basin (Morocco) and Sif el Tella, Djebel Mhrila (central Tunisia), is provided. The faunas from the uppermost Albian and lowermost Cenomanian of the Agadir Basin are nearly identical to those recorded from central Texas, USA, some 5,300 km away, and permit a detailed correlation (microcrinoid biozones CeR1 and CeR2) to be established across the southern part of the Western Tethys, independently supported by new ammonite records. For the middle and upper Cenomanian, rather few detailed records of microcrinoids are available elsewhere, and the North African record forms the basis for a new zonation (CeR3–CeR6). The distribution of Turonian Roveacrinidae in North Africa is evidently very similar to that described in the Anglo-Paris Basin, and zones TuR1–3, TuR9, 10 and 14 are recognised for the first time in the Tethys.

6

Bazar – centrum tradycyjnego krajobrazu kulturowego krajów Islamu

Łęcka I.

Prace Komisji Krajobrazu Kulturowego

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2017

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nr 38

9--22

PL

W artykule omówiono zmiany jakie nastąpiły w przestrzeni bazarów w krajach islamskich w Afryce Północnej i na Bliskim Wschodzie, od momentu ich zainicjowania przez Proroka Mahometa po dzień dzisiejszy. Targowiska wprawdzie istniały także przed pojawieniem się islamu, ale począwszy od VII w. to islam, religia która wyraźnie określa każdy aspekt życia wyznawców, wpłynął na układ przestrzenny bazarów oraz sposób i zasady ich funkcjonowania. Widoczne w XX w. rozluźnienie związków z religią w społeczeństwach zamieszkujących kraje z dominacją islamu, przyniosło najpierw zmiany w funkcjonowaniu bazarów, a potem także zmiany przestrzenne.

EN

The article discusses the changes that have occurred in the space of bazaars in Islamic countries in North Africa and the Middle East, from the moment they were initiated by the Prophet Muhammad to this day. Marketplaces, of course, also existed before the appearance of Islam, but from the 7th century it was Islam, a religion which clearly directs every aspect of the life of believers, influenced the spatial arrangement of bazaars and the way and principles of their functioning. In the 20th century the loosening of ties with religion by societies inhabiting countries with Islamic domination brought first changes in the functioning of bazaars, and later also spatial changes.

7

Ornamentation of dermal bones of Placodermi from the Lower Devonian of Morocco as a measure of biodiversity

Antczak M., Berkowski B.

Geologos

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2017

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Vol. 23, No. 2

65--73

EN

Dermal bones are formed early during growth and thus constitute an important tool in studies of ontogenetic and evolutionary changes amongst early vertebrates. Ornamentation of dermal bones of terrestrial vertebrates is often used as a taxonomic tool, for instance in Aetosauria, extant lungfishes (Dipnoi) and ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), for which it have been proved to be of use in differentiating specimens to species level. However, it has not been utilised to the same extent in placoderms. Several features of the ornamentation of Early Devonian placoderms from Hamar Laghdad (Morocco) were examined using both optical and scanning electron microscopy to determine whether it is possible to distinguish armoured Palaeozoic fishes. Four distinct morphotypes, based on ornamentation of dermal bones, are dif-ferentiated. These distinct types of ornamentation may be the result of either different location of dermal plates on the body or of ontogenetic (intraspecific) and/or interspecific variation.

8

Religia jako fundament międzykulturowości Bliskiego Wschodu oraz Afryki Północnej

El-Ghamari M.

Zeszyty Naukowe AON

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2011

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nr 3(84)

461-471

EN

Cross-culture, both as a social system research notion, is relatively new although it has been a way of life practiced in many societies all over the world for hundreds of years. Cross-culture has been the field of science, the subject of research and theoretical publications. It must be underlined that its practical dimension has the greatest influence on the shape of modem societies and the system of their functioning. The thesis of the article is the conviction that religion is one of cross-culture foundations that defining them becomes a way of life for the Middle East and North African societies. The religion aspect is included into basic areas of the society functioning, beside culture, economics and politics. Its task is to complement and create a compatible whole in everyday human functioning.

9

Francja i RFN na Bliskim Wschodzie i w Afryce Północnej : współpraca czy rywalizacja

Krzymowski A.

Zeszyty Naukowe AON

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2011

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nr 4(85)

46-56

EN

The European Union’s strategic objective is the tendency to achieve cohesion in its external operations area. Therefore, the cooperation of France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) could again become an element stimulating the development of integration processes for the whole EU that aims at working out a common strategy including the common foreign and security policy (CFSP), common security and defence policy (CSDP) and European neighbourhood policy (ENP). The fundamental European Union’s aims are adequate to France’s and FRG’s policies. These countries’ strategic objective is the European Union as a dynamic object and a key player on the international arena that uses its potential to pursue common interests in the world. On the other side, however, both countries openly tend to pursue their own exclusively national interests, which is manifested in events taking place in the Middle East and North Africa. Libya serves a good example where French and German economic concerns extremely actively compete with each other, thus determining their own countries’ politicies and consequently affect the future new geo-political distribution of forces in the region.

10

Samodzielna Brygada Strzelców Karpackich w walkach na terenie Afryki Północnej

Zuziak J.

Zeszyty Naukowe AON

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2009

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nr 3(76)

291-315

EN

After Poland’s defeat in September 1939, the main civil and military authorities as well as Polish Army units were reconstructed abroad, in France. One of them was the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade commanded by Gen. Stanisław Kopański. The French authorities designated a military camp in Homs on the Sirian – Lebanese border for the Brigade to be created. After France’s capitulation in June 1940, the Brigade moved to Palestine and went under the British command. British authorities assigned the camp in Latrum for the Polish Brigade. In the middle of August 1941, the British command, having consulted the Supreme Commander, Gen. Władysław Sikorski, and having his consent, decided about its further use. As it results from the Supreme Commander’s order to the Brigade of 9 November 1941, the initiative to deploy the Brigade to Tobruk was initiated by Gen. Sikorski. The Brigade’s Tobruk epic started in August and finished after 110 days of heavy fighting on the desert in December 1941. Directly after defensive operations, the Brigade chased the withdrawing enemy waging a victorious battle at Gazala, then Bardia. On 22 March 1942, the Brigade was located in the camp El-Amiriya near Alexandria where a few months before it had set off to Tobruk. Thus the Brigade finished its many-month participation in heavy fighting on the desert. Soon thousands of Polish soldiers would arrive from the Soviet Union who together with the Brigade were due to create new numerous units of the Polish Armed Forces. The Third Carpathian Rifle Division was formed on the basis of the Brigade.

11

Long-term changes in the size, structure and location of whiskered tern Chlidonias hybrida (L.) nests in deteriorating environmental conditions of a North African lake

Bakaria F., Benyacoub S., Gauthier-Clerc M., Bańbura J.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2009

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Vol. 57, nr 4

749-759

EN

Long-term changes in wetland habitats have been lately reported all over the world. Global warming and, in particular, irrigation and eutrophication of shallow lakes cause changes in vegetation, often in directions differing from the natural ecological succession. As a result, from the viewpoint of waterbirds, their nesting habitats deteriorate, which leads to changes in their breeding biology and distribution. In this paper the nesting of Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida (L.) was studied in changing habitat of Lake Tonga, the El-Kala National Park, NE Algeria in 1996 and 2005.2006. Since the 1960s, there has been a clear trend of extensive development of emergent and floating-leaved vegetation, with up to 80% of the lake surface being currently covered during summer. Nesting colonies of Whiskered Terns are mostly connected with beds of the white water-lily (Nymphaea alba L.). The average distance of breeding colonies from the shore line increased from 176 m in 1966 to 786 m in 2005 and 933 m in 2006. Over the study period, average nest size got twice smaller. Nest diameter was on the average 470 mm in 1996 and 236 mm in 2005.2006. The nests also changed shape and composition. The size and shape of nests were correlated with measures of their composition. Variables characterizing size, shape and composition of nests indeed differed in response to ecological variation of habitat between and within years. Our results suggest that the main function of Whiskered Tern nests is providing a firm support for eggs, incubating adults and young nestlings, which would correspond to the nest support hypothesis of Collias and Collias (1984). Nest size was influenced by ecological conditions in two ways: directly, by changing the availability of construction materials, and indirectly, by changing the distribution of colonies and, thus, physical conditions for nests. We also suggest that some components of the changes in nest size, shape and composition may be linked with the social and sexual signaling system of Whiskered Terns.

12

Polityka bezpieczeństwa USA wobec Bliskiego i Środkowego Wschodu

Rokicka D.

Zeszyty Naukowe AON

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2004

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nr 3(56)

83-96

EN

After the end of World War II and the division of the world into two blocks, a great importance was attached to the Middle East in the American foreign policy. The rivalry for the influence in this essential from a strategic point of view region began between the blocks. The creation of the Israeli State, an American bridgehead in this region, exerted a great influence on American policy towards this region. Since that time the politics of Washington “has split into two". Oil companies took over the responsibility for economic influences in this region. The US, however, took responsibility for its policy towards Israel. Nevertheless, when the need arose, the US administration interfered in the politics of the Arabic countries, for instance Iran, Libya and Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, the situation changed after the subsequent Israeli - Arabic war waged in 1973, when the Arabic states decided to take advantage of their oil weapon towards countries supporting Israel. They drastically limited oil production what resulted in a rapid growth of oil prices on the world markets and consequently an economic crisis. It was decided in Washington that the United States should play a greater role and take over the initiative from oil companies, which as a result of OPEC activities became more and more dependent on them. Moreover, these companies started to be used for fighting with the West. In order to solve this uncomfortable for Washington situation, it was decided to resolve the Middle East conflict. The first step was to sign the Camp David treaties between Israel and Egypt that commenced the war between these countries. However, the events of 1982, namely the Israeli intervention in Lebanon and consequently the long occupation of the Lebanese south by the Israeli forces, which pulled out in 2000, complicated the way to solve the conflict. The Iraqi - Iranian war, when the Americans inconsiderately supported either one or the other side, was underway at that time. The undoubtedly essential event was the Russian intervention in Afghanistan, which finished with Moscow's defeat in 1989, and the Gulf War in 1991. Also Bill Clinton’s efforts and the conferences organised by his administration, e.g. in Madrid in 1991, failed to resolve the Middle East conflict. Furthermore, the accords with Palestine were signed in 1993. However, the uncompromising policy of Israel does not favour the resolution of the Palestinian issues, which are a point of honour for the Arabic countries and an excuse for terrorists to organise assaults. But the problem does not only concern the acts of terror in Israeli towns, but the United States itself that paid the price for implicitly supporting Israel on September 11, 2001. After the 9.11 events, the United States once again changed its policy towards the Middle East. On the one hand, it decided to fight terror and particular countries that support terrorism, on the other, to strengthen the relations with such states as Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kuwait. In order not to cause Saudi Arabia difficulties, the US withdrew its bases from this country. However, it left its military advisors. In order to ensure support for the Saudi monarchy and not to allow Saddam Hussain to get hold of weapons of mass destruction, the US conducted an armed intervention in Iraq, the second stage of war on terror after Afghanistan.