title: Conservation of Mediterranean wetlands: interest of historical approach.
abstract: The wetlands of North Africa are an endangered and invaluable ecological heritage. Some of these wetlands are now protected by various conservation statutes; which actual impact has not yet been reliably evaluated. This article aims to assess the conservation management (Nature Reserve and Ramsar site) of a protected Tunisian lake, Majen Chitane, by using palaeoecological, historical and modern data, and by comparing it with the unprotected lake Majen Choucha. While located in similar environments, these lakes are today home to very different flora. Baseline conditions reconstructed from literature indicate that both lakes were very similar until the 1950s, and comparable to the current state of Majen Choucha, housing rich oligotrophic plant communities. In the 1960s, at the time that cultivation of the adjacent peatland began, Majen Chitane underwent strong ecological changes as the initial oligotrophic plant, diatom and zooplankton communities were replaced by eutrophication-tolerant ones. Eutrophication led to the local extinction of 40-55% of the hydrophytic and temporary-pool plant species, including those characteristic of the Isoetion. Given the damages and despite the recent conservation status of the site, it's unlikely that Majen Chitane will undergo any natural regeneration. Restoring it would start with completely protecting the complex lake-peatland and re-introducing the locally extinct species from Majen Choucha. This work exemplifies the usefulness of connecting palaeoecological, historical and modern data for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands.
authors.affiliation: Département de biologie, université de Tunis El Manar, campus le Belvédère, Tunisia.daoudamina200@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daoud-Bouattour
authors.forename: Serge D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Hafawa Ferchichi-Ben
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Jamaa
authors.forename: Samia Ben
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Saad-Limam
authors.forename: Laïla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rhazi
authors.forename: Ingeborg
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Soulié-Märsche
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rouissi
authors.forename: Besma
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Touati
authors.forename: Imtinène Ben Haj
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Jilani
authors.forename: Amor Mokhtar
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gammar
authors.forename: Zeineb
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ghrabi-Gammar
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000266:history*; D003625:Data Collection; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005618:Fresh Water; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D060106:Lakes; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D010944:Plants; D017215:Satellite Communications; D014416:Tunisia; D053833:Wetlands