Diversity and ecological diagnosis of dragonflies of high-mountain temporary ponds in the Akfadou massif forest (Algeria)

Abstract

An Odonata study was carried out during six successive months at five high-mountain temporary ponds located in the Akfadou massif forest, northeast Algeria. These wetlands are virtually unexplored; some of these places are unknown to the general public. However, some of them appear to face numerous threats. The results obtained by this study gave us an idea of the odonatological settlement in this area. With 18 species of Odonata, this territory contains about 1/3 of the Algerian Odonata fauna, of which nine species reproduce in this forest massif. These study stations share in common three species, namely: Ischnura graellsii, Anax imperator, and Orthetrum cancellatum. These three species are omnipresent in more than 75% of the surveys and are distributed in a consistent way in various biotopes. The first species (I. graellsii) together with Lestes virens and Chalcolestes viridis dominate in numbers, accounting for more than half of the total numbers recorded. The Shannon-Weaver index and Equitability index applied to odonatological fauna reveal that Agoulmime Ikher (AI) and Agoulmime Tala Guizane (AT) ponds are the best-structured and most stable in terms of stands in this massif.