Banc d'Arguin NP, Mauritania Photograph by © WWF-Canon/John E. NEWBY   Northern Africa: Northern Egypt, western Tunisia, with patches in Algeria, Mauritania, and Western Sahara Flooded Grasslands and Savannas   20,800 square miles (54,000 square kilometers) -- about twice the size of Maryland Relatively Stable/Intact

· Desert Oases
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Desert Oases

The wetlands of the Saharan Halophytics ecoregions are literally oases within the northern Saharan Desert, and occur in isolated patches throughout Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. These bodies of life-giving water support a surprising diversity of animals and plants. Plants that thrive in salty environments are known as halophytes, a term that gives this ecoregion its name.

Special Features

The Saharan Halophytic ecoregions are both seasonal and permanent saltwater wetlands, which occur in an area of the desert with high salt content in the soil. They are therefore inland saltwater wetlands with no real connection to the sea. Most of the wetlands within the Sahara, called chotts, occur in depressions in the ground that collect water from underground sources and seasonal rainfall. The underground sources of water are as important as rainfall for maintaining these wetlands. However, the wetlands shrink in size during the dry season, with some drying out altogether. Plants in this area need to be particularly adaptable and tolerant to salinity changes--as water evaporates, salt content is condensed and increases, and as rain dilutes the brackish wetlands, salt content again decreases. There are three major wetlands of this type in this region: Chot Melrhir in Algeria, Chott el-Jerid in Tunisia, and Qatarra Depression in Egypt.

	The Sahara was not always a desert. There is abundant evidence that as recently as 5,000 to 6,000 years ago the region had permanent sources of freshwater. Fishermen and hippopotamus hunters populated what was then a land of many rivers and lakes.

Wild Side

Vegetation associated with saltwater and freshwater marshes--such as rushweed and bulrush--grows in many of the wetlands in this ecoregion, depending on how saline the water is. Some algae are able to survive in the salty waters, providing a food source for a diverse group of invertebrates which in turn attracts a number of specialized birds. For example, flamingoes can filter out these small creatures in their curved beaks. A rare migrant bird species, the slender-billed curlew, spends its winters in these wetlands and nowhere else, as far as scientists know. White-headed ducks and lesser flamingos breed in the wetlands. And the four-toed jerboa, a small nocturnal mammal with ears nearly as long as its head, lives along the shores of the wetlands in the southern and western parts of the region.

Cause for Concern

Because of the scarcity of water in the Sahara, wetlands here are most threatened by diversion of water for human use--either from these salty wetlands or from the freshwater underground springs that feed them. Other threats come from agricultural run-off, conversion of wetlands to agriculture, long-term climatic desiccation (dryness), and disposal of untreated sewage. Hunting of birds and small mammals is also a threat to the animal populations in the region.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.