Spatio - temporal distribution and interannual variability of waterbirds of the lower valley of Ouémé in the south of Benin

Abstract

ABSTRACT Located in the East of the complex of wetlands in southern Benin, the Lower Valley of Ouémé includes water bodies (Lake Nokoué, Lagoon of Porto-Novo, Sô and Ouémé rivers), relics of forest, mangroves, flooded savannas, grasslands, plantations, fields and fallows. Annual counts of waterbirds were conducted over a period of ten years. Eighty-seven species of waterbirds belonging to 48 genera, 19 families and 9 orders were recorded during the period 1998 to 2004 and 2008 to 2010. Correspondence analysis and discriminant analysis applied to matrices species / sites x years allowed determining two groups of waterbirds A and B established along a salt gradient.