This study is an avifaunistic diversity assessment was carried out in the Merine forest, Sidi Bel Abbes (Northwest Algeria). During three years (2019-2021). The major objective of our investigation is to inventory avian species and to define their phenological categories. Among the important results is a record of, 71 species of bird, belonging to 17 orders and 28 families. The Passeriformes are the most noted with 43 species, distributed across 15 families, of which the Muscicapidae is the most represented with 10 species. The phenological categories indicates that the majority of this species are resident breeders (65 %), 21% are migrant breeders and 14% are passing visitors. Depending on trophic status, 32% are polyphagous, 27% insectivorous, 17% carnivorous, 15% granivorous and 8% omnivorous. In addition, we noted that, 31 species are protected by Flat 12-235 in Algeria, with one species (Falco naumanni) protected by the Ordinance 06-05. Internationally and one species protected according of the IUCN red list (Streptopelia turtur). The Merine forest is shelter to five species endemic to North Africa: Barbary Partridge (Alectoris barbara), Levaillant's Woodpecker (Picus vaillantii), Moussier's Redstart (Phoenicurus moussieri), Tristram's Warbler (Sylvia deserticola), African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae).

The change in the structure of species communities along environmental gradients is a privileged field of ecology as it allows exploring a continuous progression of situations often in a small area, in this context, we are interested in studying the impact of altitude and slope on the density and the recovery rate of Asphodelus microcarpus population in mountainous ecosystem. Asphodelus microcarpus is an ecological model, which allows us to have an idea about the degree of degradation in mountainous ecosystem, the density increases with advanced degradation stage. Analysis of variance revealed a highly significant difference (P = 0.001) between the 20 selected stations. The principal component analysis revealed that the density is important in low altitudes around 750 m where the slopes are average, this correlation is the result of human pressures that weaken the mountain of Tessala.

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Abstract. Chedad AW, Hammou MA, Chelghoum H, Chedad A, Amara OO, El Bouhissi M, Dahmani W, Sadine SE. 2022. Diversity and distribution pattern of scorpions from the Ouarsenis massif of Tissemsilt, North-West Algeria. Biodiversitas 23: 2444-2450. Ecological barriers such as mountains are important factors leading to fragmentation of the range of different species and the important cause of vicariance events. Ouarsenis massif (Tissemsilt, North-West Algeria) is an important protected Park. This paper presents a preliminary study of scorpion diversity and assesses this biodiversity change in this Mountain range along a gradient of many ecological descriptors, including elevation, vegetation cover, slope, and soil types. During 2020 and 2021, we sampled 179 specimens of scorpions by direct hunting from the eight biotopes in Ouarsenis massif. Only adult individuals were used for identification after being killed and kept in 70% alcohol. Based on morphological criteria, we identified eight species distributed in two genera and two families. The family Buthidae was represented by five species with the highest relative abundance (RA) was Buthus tunetanus (RA: 47.49%). Furthermore, the family Scorpionidae was represented by three species with the highest RA was Scorpio maurus (RA: 25.14%). The Shannon index (H’: 2.71 bits) indicated that Ouarsenis massif region had a high level of scorpion diversity and the value of evenness (E: 0.90) reflected the high equilibrium between the effectiveness of sampled species. The main determinant descriptor of scorpion distribution was the elevation and soil types, while the vegetation cover could be considered an ancillary factor.

The odonates of Algeria have been studied for more than a century and a half, but the Northwestern part of the country has historically received little attention. A recent study in central North Algeria reported a species new to the country, suggesting that new investigations in unexplored areas are necessary to fully understand the local odonatofauna. We studied assemblages of odonates in 23 sites in Sidi Bel Abbes (Northwest Algeria) by bimonthly recording adults across a 200 m-transect from May to August of 2019–2022. Our sampling yielded 29 species (13 damselflies and 16 dragonflies) belonging to 19 genera and seven families. We recorded a new locality for the regionally endangered Coenagrion mercuriale, expanding the western range limit of the species in Algeria. We documented the occurrence of Selysiothemis nigra, a species that has recently become more frequent in North Africa. Ischnura pumilio and Onychogomphus forcipatus unguiculatus, which are relatively rare in the region, were also recorded. The arid-dwelling Trithemis kirbyi and the Mediterranean endemic Orthetrum nitidinerve were quite common in the study area. This study fills an important gap of knowledge in our understanding of odonate geographic distribution in North Africa.