Does salinity have an influence on the diversity and structure of the wintering waterbirds of the Saharan wetlands in Algeria?

Between 2017 and 2019, 42 species of wintering waterbirds were recorded in the wetland complex of the Oued Righ valley in the Algerian Sahara. The intersite amplitudes of salinity explained the variations in species richness and distribution of waterbirds in the various wetlands studied. Oligohaline (0.5-5 ?) and mesohaline (5-18 ?) environments, represented by Lake Ayata, Lake Sidi Khelil and Oued Kherouf, were the most favorable to Anatidae with the exception of the Tadornes where their presence was noted in the euhaline (30-40 ?) and hyperhaline stations (> 40 ?). The presence of the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus and the Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei stood out in the most holomorphic areas of the complex, such as Chott Merouane.