African Flyways

[Mellie]

Migratory bird flyways that have taken the deadly strain of H5N1 from China to Siberia to Croatia to Turkey to Nigeria and... soon to other parts of Africa?

Next stop on the H5N1 Express: Europe? in the Spring as birds return from Africa... via the Eastern Atlantic flyway... or back to Siberia then to Europe?

[Bruce]

Re: World Flyways

Here is a nice one from http://www.groms.de/groms/Getting_St...s/Flyways.html

[Bruce]

Re: World Flyways

One more from http://web.uct.ac.za/dept
s/stats/adu/wsg/cadiz.html

[Sally Furniss]

Re: African Flyways

The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands

The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands [170] concern a part of the flood plain of the Komadougou-Yobe river basin in the Lake Chad basin in the north-east of Nigeria and are home to probably about a million people. The wetlands have formed where the waters of the Hadejia and Jama'are rivers meet the lines of ancient sand dunes aligned northeast-southwest. An area of confused drainage has formed here, with multiple river channels and a complex pattern of permanently and seasonally flooded land and dryland. The wetlands are nationally and internationally important for migratory waterfowl. The wetlands support extensive wet-season rice farming, flood-recession agriculture and dry-season irrigation. The flood plain also supports large numbers of fishing people, most of whom also farm, and is grazed by very substantial numbers of Fulani livestock, particularly cattle, which are brought in from both north and south in the dry season. There is also an important dispatch from the wetlands of fuelwood and fodder for horses. In the past, much of the rice, as well as fish and birds, was traded out of the area. This has changed, but there is now a strong export of other agricultural products, for example peppers, wheat and fuelwood. The economic value of production from the wetlands is very large, many times greater than that of all the irrigation schemes for which the inflowing rivers are dammed, diverted and their waters used.

There are natural changes, for example the impacts of drought, that have serious implications for the future of the wetlands and the sustainability of their production systems. There are also major economic changes within the wetlands themselves. The extent of irrigation has greatly increased over the 1980s, largely as a result of the advent of small petrol-powered pumps and the ban on the importation of wheat in 1988. As the use of small pumps spreads, conflicts are beginning to emerge between farmers and pastoralists, and between small and large farmers for access to land.

The wetlands have also been affected by developments elsewhere in the river basin. The construction of the Tiga Dam on a tributary of the Hadejia river in the early years of the 1970s has exacerbated the effects of the low rainfall of the last two decades. The result has been a reduction in the extent of flooding in the wetland. Construction of a dam on the Hadejia river just above Hadejia town to provide short-term storage of water to irrigate the Hadejia Valley Project Phase 1 began, in the early 1980s, but was stopped for several years because of financial problems. The main dam was completed in 1992, soon after work restarted on the project. The dam has created a large shallow lake upstream and it will probably have a major effect on the timing and extent of flooding in the wetlands.

Most of the dams, irrigation schemes and water resources plans for the Yobe basin were prepared in the 1970s and early 1980s, using data for the relatively wet period up to 1973. The post-1972 drought has reduced the proportion of rainfall which runs off to the rivers. The 1988 flood at Hadejia was probably one of the largest for some years and it was augmented by the failure of the dam at Bagauda.

The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands have long been known as a centre of fish production. Upstream hydrological developments induced by irrigation projects threaten to degrade this important resource. Studies of flood plain fisheries have shown that fish production is closely related to flood extent. The existing and planned dams upstream of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands are likely to have a serious impact on fisheries. Despite the lack of information specific to the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, there are enough studies from other flood plains affected by hydraulic works to show that the effects of dams on fish communities are likely to be serious. The dams are likely to bring changes in river flow, loss of habitat, blocking of channels, changes in silt loading, plankton abundance and temperature which are likely to affect fish communities.

The economic value of fish production from the flood plains adds weight to the argument in favour of maintaining the annual flooding of the wetlands. Moreover, the significance of fishing goes beyond its value in monetary terms. Fishing plays an important role in the flexibility and adaptability of the rural economy in the flood plains. A reduction in this flexibility through degradation of the fishery resource may have serious repercussions on the ability of communities to adapt to fluctuations in their environment. Many people are involved in the fisheries and so the social consequences of any appreciable reduction in productivity will be felt throughout the area. Degradation of the fisheries may also affect other sectors of the rural economy. Most people who fish also pursue other activities - such as farming, livestock rearing, manufacturing of crafts or trading - and the loss of, or reduction in one component of the household economy is likely to affect activities in other sectors. There will also be 'downline' effects on fish processors, fish dealers, customers and consumers.

In addition to producing fuelwood, the forest reserves and bushland of the flood plains yield important non-timber forest products that are significant to the livelihoods and subsistence of local communities. Some, including leaves, are important marketed commodities that generate substantial income. Doum palm leaves are either processed into mats and other products or sold as raw material. The harvesting and processing of doum palm leaves is a dry season activity, and many people migrate to the wetlands to harvest the palm. Mat-making from doum is also a specialized activity of many flood plain villages. Mats and other doum products, for example rope and baskets, are sold locally or exported to other regions. Baobab leaves are used widely as an ingredient for soups and stews and are especially important as a 'drought food'. Honey, produced by local beekeepers, is a highly valued commodity.

Since 1985, the area has been the focus of the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands Conservation Project. This project has been run jointly by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the International Council for Bird Preservation (now renamed Birdlife International). In 1990 a major development project was started by the European Community that included the eastern part of the area. The North East Arid Zone Development Project (NEAZDP) has a very substantial budget to generate village-based development initiatives. Attention has tended to be directed in particular to the potential resources of the wetlands.

Wise use of the wetlands of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands demands a proper understanding of the environmental and socio-economic changes that are occurring and of those that may be predicted. Understanding of the impacts of changes inside and outside the flood plain is far from easy, and prediction of future impacts is even harder. However, without such understanding and prediction, effective planning and management is impossible.

The economic importance of the flood plains suggests that benefits it provides cannot be excluded as an opportunity cost of any scheme that diverts water away from the flood plain system. Policy makers should be aware of this problem when designing water development projects in the river system. Further analysis is also required of the type of 'regulated flood projects' regime, which could maintain much of the flood plain system intact while still allowing some upstream water developments. Further investigation of all the economic benefits provided by the wetlands is also needed, and the sustainability of production within a flood plain area should be more thoroughly examined.

Effects of the Jonglei canal on the Sudd swamps

In the southern of Sudan, the Nile discharges its water into the great wetlands of the Sudd, a network of channels, lakes and swamps in which as much as half of the inflowing water is disappears through evaporation (see also Chapter 6: the Nile basin section). The Jonglei Canal was designed to bypass the Sudd and direct downstream a proportion of the water that is 'lost' from the Nile each year by spill and evaporation in the swamps. The projected dimensions of the canal are as follows: a width from bank to bank of about 75 metres, a channel bed-width averaging 38 metres, a depth varying from 4 to 8 meters, and a length of 360 km, over twice the length of the Suez canal. Jonglei is a small Dinka village close to the Atem channel at a point where the canal alignment was planned to begin. Although the offtake will now be further south at Bor, the canal is still so named and Jonglei has given its name to a province as well.

The canal has not been completed, but detailed surveys were undertaken to determine a whole range of effects, many of which will be shown to be disadvantageous to the inhabitants of the Jonglei Area. Some of the effects are described below.

The river-flooded grasslands are an essential seasonal resource during the driest months of the year. Not only is there drinking water available in the rivers, but the process of seasonal inundation itself produces species of grasses which sustain the herds from about January until April. There are no other alternatives as the grasses of the high land are exhausted or reserved for the livestock (mainly smaller stock), held by the few people who elect to remain behind, and the rain-flooded grasslands have become woody and unpalatable and produce little or no regrowth after burning. It follows that the river-flooded grasslands are crucial to the pastoral economy at this time of the year. It is, however, just these grasslands that may be reduced by the operation of the canal.

The water benefit of the canal downstream will be around 4 km?/year and according to some estimates even an extra water flow of up to 10 km?/year may be reached. These quantities are a substantial percentage of the average 'losses' by the evapotranspiration, the natural production of river-flooded grasses being a function of the annual fluctuation in river discharge and thus of the annual variation in area flooded. In other words, to the local inhabitants these are not losses in water at all, though the waters are excessive and the cause of damaging floods, as in 1964.

The floods of the 1960s, reaching a peak in 1964, caused great damage to human interests. On the Zeraf island alone it was reckoned that 130000 cattle were lost owing to exposure and lack of grazing since practically the whole area remained under water for a long period. Similar disastrous effects occurred west of the Bahr el Jebel in the vicinity of Adok. It follows that any reduction in peak flows could be protective and beneficial. The same model can be applied to give some indication of the effect of the canal on areas of flooding. The figure of 25 million m?/day for a canal diversion may reduce the area of flooding by about 19% at a 1964 peak discharge [41].

The established fisheries of some large lakes in the Sudd are said to have been adversely affected by increased water depth, but, overall, the flooding of the 1960s has multiplied the number of perennial lakes in the system and, thereby, the fishing potential. A severe decrease in the discharge into the Sudd resulting from the Jonglei canal would bring about the total disappearance of many lakes in the papyrus zone and reduce others to the status of seasonal lagoons, with a serious loss of year-round fish and fishing potential.

The Jonglei Canal brings the obvious advantage of shorter river communications between Khartoum and the main urban centre of the southern Sudan at Juba, in effect reducing the length of the journey by 300 km. The canal will also bring communications, as well as water, to a particularly remote part of Sudan, which is inaccessible during the rains and largely abandoned in the dry season. Passing points and berthing places are part of the design and will lead to the creation of small ports which are likely to develop and open up contact with the hinterland in much the same way as those along the natural channels of the river have done. There is, however, likely to be considerable disadvantage to the people of the Zeraf Island and those living west of the Bahr el Jebel, in that mainstream traffic will follow the canal and the old western landing places will be ill-served. In the past, moreover, river traffic has been a major factor in keeping the channels open. Oil prospecting is likely to restart once peace has been restored and this may mean that the companies concerned will wish to keep channels clear. However, if discharges drop to the low figures prior to 1961, the canal could become too shallow for commercial traffic and for the movement of fisheries barges.

The canal will in many areas drive a barrier between wet season villages and dry season grazing grounds along the river channels and therefore dislocate the pastoral cycle. Many people living east of the canal will have to cross it with their livestock when regrowth from rain-flooded grasslands is exhausted and they have to move westwards to the river-flooded grasslands of the Nile. Reinforced structures at various points along the canal are needed to facilitate the crossing of livestock without damage to the embankments and to provide suitably designed boats more efficient than the usual 'dug-out' canoe. Crossing the canal will present a massive logistical problem and besides, raises questions of land ownership among those who may need to cross the canal and cross each others' territory in order to do so.

There exists a kind of 'Jonglei Controversy'. The criticism of the environmentalists are many but can be segregated into charges that the Jonglei Canal will drastically affect climate, groundwater recharges, silt and water quality, the destruction of fish and changes in the lifestyle of the Nilotic people. However, other studies claim that the positive effects will counterbalance by far the negative effects. As is the case with the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands understanding and prediction of the impacts is very difficult. However, without such understanding and prediction, effective planning and management is impossible.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/W4347E/w4347e11.htm

[Sally Furniss]

Re: African Flyways

Hadejia-Nguru wetlands <table class="QPQContainerPartial" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td width="8"> </td> <td width="250">Country/Territory
</td> <td width="250">Nigeria
</td> <td rowspan="6" width="152"></td> </tr> <tr><td> </td> <td>Administrative region(s)
</td> <td>Bauchi, Jigawa, Yobe
</td> </tr> <!-- Removed by GAJB 2005-09-06 <tr> <td>&#160;</td> <td>Central coordinates
</td> <td>10.55, 12.65
</td> </tr> --> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Central coordinates
</td> <td> 10^o 33' East 12^o 39' North Map
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Area
</td> <td>300000 ha
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Altitude
</td> <td>152 - 305m
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Criteria
</td> <td>A1, A3, A4i, A4iii
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table class="QPQContainerPartial" cellpadding="5"><tbody><tr><td>Site description The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands (HNW) lie on the southern edge of the Sahel savanna in north-eastern Nigeria. The area is a flood-plain complex, comprised of a mixture of seasonally flooded lands and dry uplands. Prior to the droughts of the 1970s, the wetlands covered an area of about 4,125 km², but are now reduced to c.3,500 km². The wetland is supplied by the Hadejia and Jama'are rivers. The Jama'are rises in the Jos Plateau, the Hadejia in the hills around Kano; they join within the HNW to form the Yobe river, which discharges into Lake Chad. River flow is highly seasonal and varies considerably depending upon rainfall and run-off. Peak flow occurs in August and September when banks overflow and the area is inundated. Three broad vegetation-types are identifiable. One of these is scrub savanna, which includes the upland farmland areas and Acacia woodlands. The second grows on the 'tudu' lands, sandy ridges which, with the exception of scattered, ephemeral ponds, are never inundated. Characteristic tree species here include Acacia spp. (especially A. albida), Ziziphus spp., Balanites aegyptiaca, Tamarindus indica and Adansonia digitata, while common grasses are Cenchrus biflorus, Andropogon spp. and Vetiveria nigritana. There are also pockets of riparian forests, known as 'kurmi'. Common trees of the kurmi forests, at about the northern limit of their distributions, are Khaya senegalensis, Mitragyna inermis and Diospyros mespiliformis. In some parts, kurmi has been replaced with orchards of mango Mangifera indica and guava Psidium guajava. The third main vegetation-type includes the seasonally flooded marshes and 'fadama', in which the tree Acacia nilotica is common while Dum palms Hyphaene thebaica grow on small raised islands. Aquatic grasses such as Echinochloa and Oryza spp. are common in the marshes, while in drier parts Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Setaria spp.and Cyperus spp. occur. There are also extensive beds of Typha australis while Mimosa pigra thickets are common on edges of the lakes. Large parts of the fadama are under rice cultivation during the rainy season and, during the dry season, are usually utilized for growing other crops as water-levels drop. Uncultivated areas are grazed by livestock. Annual rainfall ranges between 200-600 mm, confined to the period late May-September.
</td></tr></tbody></table><table class="QPQTable" cellpadding="5"><tbody><tr><td colspan="3" align="left">Habitats and percentage cover
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="250">Artificial landscapes (terrestrial)
</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="50">78
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="250">Grassland
</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="50">18
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="250">Wetlands (inland)
</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="50">2
</td></tr></tbody></table><table class="QPQTable" cellpadding="5"><tbody><tr><td colspan="3" align="left">Land-use and percentage cover</td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="250">agriculture
</td><td align="center" width="50">-
</td><td align="left" width="300">
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="250">nature conservation and research
</td><td align="center" width="50">-
</td><td align="left" width="300">
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="250">tourism/recreation
</td><td align="center" width="50">-
</td><td align="left" width="300">
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="250">water management
</td><td align="center" width="50">-
</td><td align="left" width="300">
</td></tr></tbody></table><table class="QPQContainerPartial" cellpadding="5"><tbody><tr><td>Birds See Box and Table 3 for key species. A total of 377 bird species have been recorded. A few individuals of two species of global conservation concern, Circus macrourus and Galinago media, winter occasionally. Numbers of overwintering Aythya nyroca have declined considerably in recent years. The wetlands are extremely important for waterbirds, both for breeding species and for wintering and passage Palearctic waterbirds, while the surrounding areas hold significant numbers of species of the Sahel biome and Sudan-Guinea Savanna biome. Total numbers of waterbirds recorded during the January African Waterbird Census counts were 259,767 in 1995, 201,133 in 1996 and 324,510 in 1997.
</td></tr></tbody></table><table class="QPQTable" cellpadding="5"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="260">Species</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">Season
</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">Year
</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">Min
</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">Max
</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">Quality
</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">Criteria
</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Fulvous Whistling-duck <nobr>(Dendrocygna bicolor)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1997</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">9510</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">9510</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">White-faced Whistling-duck <nobr>(Dendrocygna viduata)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1997</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">58613</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">58613</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Spur-winged Goose <nobr>(Plectropterus gambensis)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1995</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">7332</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">7332</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Northern Pintail <nobr>(Anas acuta)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1998</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">34866</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">34866</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Garganey <nobr>(Anas querquedula)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1998</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">147563</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">147563</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Ferruginous Duck <nobr>(Aythya nyroca)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1988</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">1594</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">1594</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A1, A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Glossy Ibis <nobr>(Plegadis falcinellus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1997</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">2447</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">2447</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Savile's Bustard <nobr>(Eupodotis savilei)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Purple Swamphen <nobr>(Porphyrio porphyrio)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1997</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">261</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">261</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Black-tailed Godwit <nobr>(Limosa limosa)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1997</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">6473</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">6473</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Spotted Redshank <nobr>(Tringa erythropus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1997</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">4065</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">4065</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Ruff <nobr>(Philomachus pugnax)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">non-breeding</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1996</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">108381</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">108381</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A4i</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">African Collared-dove <nobr>(Streptopelia roseogrisea)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Senegal Parrot <nobr>(Poicephalus senegalus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Red-throated Bee-eater <nobr>(Merops bulocki)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Bearded Barbet <nobr>(Lybius dubius)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Yellow-breasted Barbet <nobr>(Trachyphonus margaritatus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Sahelian Woodpecker <nobr>(Dendropicos elachus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Yellow-billed Shrike <nobr>(Corvinella corvina)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Piapiac <nobr>(Ptilostomus afer)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Yellow Penduline-tit <nobr>(Anthoscopus parvulus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Red-pate Cisticola <nobr>(Cisticola ruficeps)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Rufous Cisticola <nobr>(Cisticola rufus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Cricket Longtail <nobr>(Spiloptila clamans)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">unknown</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Purple Glossy-starling <nobr>(Lamprotornis purpureus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Chestnut-bellied Starling <nobr>(Lamprotornis pulcher)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Black Scrub-robin <nobr>(Cercotrichas podobe)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver <nobr>(Plocepasser superciliosus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Sudan Golden Sparrow <nobr>(Passer luteus)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Bush Petronia <nobr>(Petronia dentata)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Heuglin's Masked-weaver <nobr>(Ploceus heuglini)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Red-winged Pytilia <nobr>(Pytilia phoenicoptera)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Lavender Waxbill <nobr>(Estrilda caerulescens)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="260">Black-rumped Waxbill <nobr>(Estrilda troglodytes)</nobr></td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">resident</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="60">1999</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="center" valign="top" width="40">0</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="60">-</td><td align="left" valign="top" width="100">A3</td></tr><tr><td colspan="7" align="left"> </td></tr></tbody></table><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="640"></table><table class="QPQContainerPartial" cellpadding="5"><tbody><tr><td align="left">Conservation issues Parts of the wetlands are protected by five Forest Reserves, a Wildlife Sanctuary and a Ramsar Site. Two of the Forest Reserves, Zurgun Baderi and Gorgoram, as well as Dagona Wildlife Sanctuary form part of the Chad Basin National Park, while Nguru Lake and the Marma Channel complex (58,100 ha) are designated a Ramsar Site. Several consecutive years of drought in the 1970s reduced the extent of the wetlands. In the last two decades, several dams (including two large ones at Tiga and Challawa) and other hydro-agricultural projects with intensive water demand have been commissioned at locations upstream. These have interrupted the natural flood regime, diverting flood water in the wet season and releasing damaging flood surges during the dry. Fish migration, groundwater recharge, grazing and farming are disrupted as a result. In addition, pastures are overgrazed, soils compacted and tree regeneration is hampered by pastoralists who migrate into the area during the dry season. Depredation of crops by Quelea quelea and other avian pests hardens farmers attitudes against bird conservation. Chemical control of Quelea quelea often kills non-target species. Increasing human population and the rising demand for land is resulting in cultivation of land previously considered marginal. Finally, the fuelwood demand from the surrounding urban settlements is depleting the tree-cover of Forest Reserves in the wetland complex. The area has been the subject of a collaborative project between State Government, NCF, RSPB and IUCN. The project has succeeded in demonstrating the value of natural and traditional uses of the wetland and has been able to agree on dam releases that mimic natural flood patterns.
</td></tr></tbody></table> Citation BirdLife International 2008 BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. Version 2.1. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available: http://www.birdlife.org (accessed 11/8/2008)

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=6754&m=0

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: African Flyways

I couldn't get the map link to work, so here's another (Lake Chad is to the east):



.

[Sally Furniss]

Re: African Flyways

Lake Chad flooded savanna (AT0904)
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Yankara National Park, Nigeria
Photograph by Cliff Missen
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More Photos

<!-- End Jump Links --> This permanent shallow lake expands dramatically with seasonal floods, providing a vital refuge for birds migrating between the Palearctic and Afrotropical realms, and for resident animals. Up to one million waterbirds congregate on the lake in the Palearctic winter period. Located on the southern edge of the Sahara, Lake Chad is also critically important to the people who inhabit its shores. In recent years, these wetlands have come under increasing pressure from drought, plans for water resource projects, and intensified anthropogenic use. An estimated 20 million people rely on Lake Chad/ Hadejia-Nguru for their economic activities, a figure that is projected to rise to 35 million by the year 2020 (World Bank 2000).<!-- start Location and General Description section -->

Location and General Description
Lake Chad contains the boundaries of four African countries: Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. It is the largest lake in Central and West Africa and the fourth largest lake on the African continent. The lake?s waters presently cover 2,500 km², only one-tenth the area they covered in the 1960?s (FEWS 1997). The ancient Lake Chad Basin formed during the Cretaceous period, and extends over 2.5 million km². The lake has undergone massive fluctuations in size, extending to the Tibesti Mountains in northwest Chad at one point during the Pleistocene (Monod 1963; Hughes and Hughes 1992). In recent years, severe droughts since the 1970?s have decreased lake levels so that it is now extremely shallow and divided into northern and southern pools.
The climate in this ecoregion is dry, with an annual average of 320 mm of rain falling on the lake. Rainfall occurs from June through October with the northward movement of a volatile maritime air mass. Conditions are hot and dry from March through June, and dry and cooler from November through February. Evaporation is extremely high, reaching rates of 2,300 mm per year (Hammer 1986). Despite the high rates of evaporation, Lake Chad has low levels of salinity because the more saline waters sink and leave the lake through subterranean conduits in the north. These underground passageways account for 8 percent of the lake?s total water outflow (Beadle 1981; Hughes and Hughes 1992).
Lake input is seasonal, the majority originating as precipitation on the Adama Plateau, brought to Lake Chad via the Chari and Logone Rivers. The Logone/Chari system is estimated to contribute 95 percent of the total riverine inflow while the Yobe River system carries less than 2.5 percent (Hughes and Hughes 1992). The lake is extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of 12 m measured in 1969 prior to the droughts of the 1970?s (Jauro 1998). Today, the lake is greatly reduced in volume, and average depths vary between 1.5 and 5 m (Evans 1996) Any increase in lake volume means a substantial increase in lake area and shoreline.
The surface of the lake is covered with a mixture of island archipelagoes (23 percent), reed beds (39 percent), and open water (38 percent) (Dumont 1992). A swamp belt divides the lake into a north and south basin. Areas of open water persist in the southern basin, mostly near the Chari River inflow. Swamps are found to the west of this open water and archipelago zones are located along the northeast coast of the lake (Sarch and Birkett 2000). Vegetation in the south basin consists of Cyperus papyrus, Phragmites mauritianus, Vossia cuspidata, and other wetland plants. Phragmites australis and Typha australis grow in the more saline north basin (Beadle 1981). Occasionally, the floating plant Nile lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) covers large areas of open water (Denny 1991). Vast expanses of dark, cracking Pleistocene clays line the southern shore of the lake. Grassland communities dominate where flooding is extensive because most tree species cannot tolerate prolonged flooding. Woody communities dominated by Acacia species grow interspersed with grasslands. These woody communities vary in density, ranging from scattered trees and bushy grasslands to woodlands and thickets. Xeric woodland species found around Lake Chad include baobabs, desert date palms, African myrrh, and Indian jujube.
?Ya?re? grasslands grow on the southern lakeshore where flooding is prolonged and water depth reaches 1 m to 2 m. Vegetation consists of Echinochloa pyramidalis, Vetiveria nigritana, Oryza longistaminata, and Hyparrhenia rufa. Ya?re dries up completely during the dry season. In areas with shallow and less prolonged flooding, ?karal? or ?firki? vegetation is present. Acacia seyal is the dominant species here, but is replaced by A. nilotica nilotica in depressions. Below the trees, a layer of tall herbs and coarse grasses grows to 2 to 3 m in height, including Caperonia palustris, Echinochloa colona, Hibiscus asper, Hygrophila auriculata, Sorghum purpureosericeum, and Schoenfeldia gracilis (White 1983).
An outlier of the ecoregion is found at the Hadejia-Nguru floodplain in northern Nigeria. This floodplain forms where the Hadejia River joins the Jama?are River in a vast mix of criss-crossing water channels. Wet season rainfall falls from June through September and floods the headwaters in July and August. Peak inflow to the wetlands occurs in late August, resulting in extensive shallow flooding (Hollis et al. 1993, Acreman and Hollis 1996). These wetlands cover a total area of about 6,000 km², with a water surface area of 2,000 km² (FAO 1997). Referred to as an inland delta, the floodplain has a maximum width of 65 km at the confluence of the two rivers, but then diminishes to a 5 km span that continues for several hundred kilometers. Many patches of higher, unflooded ground are mixed within the floodplain.
<!-- end Location and General Description section --> <!-- start Biodiversity Features text --> Biodiversity Features
This ecoregion has highest biological importance for the large numbers of migrant birds that use the area, especially ducks and waders that spend the Palearctic winter period in Africa. Periodic counts of waterfowl and other species have been conducted in Chad and Hadejia-Nguru from 1955 to the present day (e.g. Roux and Jarry 1984, Scott and Rose 1996). Seventeen species of waterfowl and 49 other wetland bird species are recorded, and abundance varies in different years with the size of the lake and wetlands conditions elsewhere in West Africa. The most abundant bird is the wader ruff (Philomachus pugnax), with more than one million seen on the lake at one time (Keith and Plowes 1997). In the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands the most common waterbirds are white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata), garganey (Anas querquedula), northern pintail (Anas acuta), and ruff (Philomachus pugnax) (Garba-Boyi et al. 1993, Scott and Rose 1996, Dodman et al. 1999).
Lake Chad also supports two near-endemic bird species, the river prinia (Prinia fluviatilis) and the somewhat more widespread rusty lark (Mirafra rufa). One other bird of note is the marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), which is occasionally seen on Lake Chad and in northern Chad; it is thought to be declining worldwide.
The bird life is threatened by decreasing water levels. Recent concerns include the availability of nesting sites for the endangered West African subspecies of black-crowned crane (Balearica pavonina pavonina) and adequate wintering grounds for intercontinental migrants such as the ruff (Philomachus pugnax) (World Bank 2000, Meine and Archibald 1996).

http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at0904_full.html

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: African Flyways

Recent concerns include the availability of nesting sites for the endangered West African subspecies of black-crowned crane

.