Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Wolff W.J. & Smit C.J. (1990) The Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, as an environment for coastal birds. ARDEA 78 (1-2): 17-38
The Banc d'Arguin is an area of tidal flats and shallow water bordering the Sahara in Mauritania, W. Africa. In the East Atlantic Flyway system it is with over two million wintering waders the most important coastal wintering site. The Banc d'Arguin is characterised by average monthly temperatures between 18 and 23.degree. C, fairly strong northerly winds and hardly any precipitation or surface run-off. The upwelling system of the Canary Current influences the shallows of the area, but the abiotic conditions on the Banc d'Arguin differ considerably from those in the upwelling area. The area of tidal flats is estimated to cover 491 km2, of which about 193 km2 are covered by dense seagrass beds and about 219 km2 consist of muddy flats with usually a less dense seagrass cover. The biomass of the benthic macrofauna of the tidal flats is about 14.5 g ash-free dry mass m-2 with about 5.5 g for the large bivalve Anadara senilis which can only be fed on by Oystercatchers. The productivity of this benthic fauna, A. senilis excluded, is unknown. Disappearance of benthic fauna due to birds is estimated at about 14 g m-2 yr-1, whereas fish and invertebrates will take an unknown amount. The possibly narrow margin between production and consumption is hypothesised to be related to the stable abiotic conditions at the Banc d'Arguin, allowing waders and other predators to develop an equilibrium between prey production and predator consumption.


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