On the restoration of the last relict population of a dragonfly Urothemis edwardsii Selys (Libellulidae: Odonata) in the Mediterranean

Khelifa, Rassim; Mellal, Mohammed Khalil; Zouaimia, Abdelheq; Amari, Hichem; Zebsa, Rabah; Bensouilah, Soufyane; Laouar, Abdeldjalil; Houhamdi, Moussa

doi:10.1007/s10841-016-9911-9

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The final step is to identify potential habitats for the species (sink subpopulations) where the physico-chemical characteristics of the water are similar to those found in the existing subpopulations and to perform translocations of both final instar larvae and P. nodosus patches containing eggs from the source subpopulations (Khelifa et al, 2016b). Without a restoration plan, the species will likely disappear after a few years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second step is to re-introduce the species in areas where it used to exist, taking into account oviposition site availability. The final step is to identify potential habitats for the species (sink subpopulations) where the physico-chemical characteristics of the water are similar to those found in the existing subpopulations and to perform translocations of both final instar larvae and P. nodosus patches containing eggs from the source subpopulations (Khelifa et al, 2016b). Final instar larvae should be introduced in order to ensure survival until emergence and potential reproduction because most odonates are philopatric to emergence sites (Utzeri et al, 1984;Corbet, 1999;Doln y et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The species was thought to be extinct because it had not been observed for a century (since Martin, 1910). The species needs an urgent restoration plan to improve the conservation status through an increase in the local range and population size (Khelifa et al, 2016b). Estimation of the size of five subpopulations in the Seybouse River recorded 2200 individuals, which nearly corresponds to a fourth of the estimated global population and the largest number ever estimated for the species (Khelifa et al, 2016a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to increasing anthropogenic pressure, several subpopulations have recently become extinct (see results). The species needs an urgent restoration plan to improve the conservation status through an increase in the local range and population size (Khelifa et al, 2016b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Host‐plant‐based restoration as a potential tool to improve conservation status of odonate specialists

Khelifa

Mellal

2016

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Several species worldwide show rapid range retraction due to habitat degradation, and some of them have restricted distribution and specific resource needs. Such cases deserve particular attention and need urgent conservation actions to avoid extinction, and one way is to facilitate colonisation of new habitats by resource supplementation. Here, we investigate the changes in range distribution, during the last decade (2007–2016), of an endangered endemic damselfly, Calopteryx exul Selys, and assess the importance of its favourite host‐plant (Potamogeton nodosus) in colonisation and population dynamics in the last existing population of Algeria. We first used dynamic occupancy models to assess range distribution dynamics and we found that both occupancy and colonisation probabilities of the species were positively dependent on the occurrence of P. nodosus. There was also evidence that extinction probability increased with habitat disturbance but decreased with the occurrence of P. nodosus. Our experimental restoration showed that the augmentation of patches of P. nodosus increased the total number of individuals, the number of reproductive events and philopatry. Our study highlights the importance of insect–plant relationship in the establishment of effective restoration plans because of their implication in colonisation and extinction processes and population dynamics. Since most insect species from different orders and ecosystems are ecologically dependent on plants, our restoration approach may benefit a large range of threatened species and improve their conservation status.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Host‐plant‐based restoration as a potential tool to improve conservation status of odonate specialists

Khelifa

Mellal

2016

Insect Conserv Diversity

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“…There are also aspects related to the abiotic and biotic factors which could influence spatial and temporal niche axes of emergence that require future investigations. Even though the species studied are listed as "least concern" in the IUCN Red list, the data presented in this paper broaden our current knowledge of the emergence ecology of local odonates and potential niche similarities among species (Khelifa, Zebsa, Moussaoui et al 2013), which might be of interest for better management and conservation of other threatened odonates (Khelifa et al 2018(Khelifa et al , 2016Mellal, Bensouilah et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Emergence ecology and body size dimorphism in Sympetrum fonscolombii and S. meridionale (Odonata: Libellulidae)

Hadjadji¹,

Amari²,

Bouiedda³

et al. 2019

Zoology and Ecology

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The study of dragonfly emergence provides insights into the understanding of their life history, ecology, and adaptation to abiotic and biotic factors. Here we investigate the emergence ecology and body size of two congeneric dragonflies (Sympetrum fonscolombii Selys, and S. meridionale Selys) in Northeast Algeria, highlighting the seasonal pattern, sex ratio at emergence, sexual size dimorphism (SSD), and vertical stratification. We found that both species, S. fonscolombii in particular, showed quite asynchronous emergence. In both species, and especially in the larger S. meridionale, sex ratio was found to be female-biased, which is in line with the hypothesis of a negative relationship between SSD and sex ratio. There was no seasonal pattern of body size observed in both species. In S. meridionale, SSD with regard to both body and wing sheath length was male-biased, while in S. fonscolombii, it was male-biased with regard to body length and female-biased with regard to wing length. Vertical stratification depended on support height (the higher the support, the higher the height of exuvia fixation) but had a complex relationship with the body size. The biological significance and implications of the vertical stratification-body size relationship are discussed.

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The hand of man or Santa Rosalia’s blessing? A rebuttal of the paper “on the restoration of the relict population of a dragonfly Urothemis edwardsii Selys (Libellulidae: Odonata) in the Mediterranean”

Samraoui

2017

J Insect Conserv

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On the restoration of the last relict population of a dragonfly Urothemis edwardsii Selys (Libellulidae: Odonata) in the Mediterranean

Cited by 19 publications

References 33 publications

Host‐plant‐based restoration as a potential tool to improve conservation status of odonate specialists

Host‐plant‐based restoration as a potential tool to improve conservation status of odonate specialists

Emergence ecology and body size dimorphism in Sympetrum fonscolombii and S. meridionale (Odonata: Libellulidae)

The hand of man or Santa Rosalia’s blessing? A rebuttal of the paper “on the restoration of the relict population of a dragonfly Urothemis edwardsii Selys (Libellulidae: Odonata) in the Mediterranean”

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