Description Les salins font partie du patrimoine culturel de la Méditerranée. Depuis des temps immémoriaux, la production de sel a été obtenue par l’évaporation naturelle de l’eau salée de la mer, des lagunes côtières ou intérieures. Il y a une analogie étroite avec l’agriculture: une activité basée sur la récolte des ressources naturelles, la production de sel est très répandue en Méditerranée où les étés longs, chauds et secs conduisent […]
Brief Description Mediterranean temporary marshes are a unique habitat. In the Mediterranean climate, the rain which falls between autumn ad spring is the source of water.The wet period occurs when temperatures are relatively low, and the marshes dry out quickly in the hot, dry summers, the temporary nature of these marshes thus results from a combination of low precipitation and high evaporation which leads to low water levels in the […]
Brief Description In much of the Mediterranean area, where the climate is hot and dry, freshwater is in short supply and fish and humans are in competition for this scarce resource. Improved standards of living in most countries and a rise in human population have combined to make increasing demands on freshwater resources and have resulted in conflicting interests in available water.Because of such demands, fish in southern Europe where […]
Brief Description Emergent aquatic plants dominate the landscape of many Mediterranean wetlands: the cast reed beds of common reed in deltas and around the edges of freshwater lakes; huge stretches of glasswort on the limits of salt and brackish marshes. The purpose of this booklet is to provide an understanding of the ecological functioning of systems dominated by emergent aquatic plants.To draw together information necessary for decisions on the management […]
Brief Description The purpose of this booklet is to explore the growing demand for water in the Mediterranean and the increasing pressures on the natural hydrological environment.It looks for instance at how natural ecosystems preserve the hydrology of river systems, storing and recycling freshwater.It asks how far our expectations for both ample water supply and environmental protection can be reconciled; how far maximizing use of scarce water can be consistent […]
Brief Description Worldwide wetland ecosystems have been greatly affected by human activities. The Mediterranean region is no exception.Even if all the remaining wetlands were now effectively protected it is unlikely that the decline of colonial waterbirds in these habitats would come to an automatic halt, or even reverse itself.Active management is needed for stabilizing these bird colonies, let alone for restoring their numbers.This booklet deals with the practical issues of […]