Nôtre lagune en peril: l 'écosystème lagunaire Ebrié bouleversé par les interventions humaines

On their way to a better economical situation, developing countries are now starting taking advantage of the technologies, which made developed countries successful. In doing so, they are starting being confronted to the same ecological problems. Such is the case in Côte d'Ivoire of the Ebrié lagoon in the Abidjan region, the delicate ecosystem of which is now in danger.

Eléments nutritifs et production primaire dans les lagunes du Côte d'Ivoire : cycle annuel

This paper collects most of the information gathered between October 1974 and July 1976 within the framework of a research program concerning the hydrobioclimate of ivorian lagoons and especially the Ebrié lagoon. Monthly surveys concerning the latter were carried out during 1975. The following parameters - and their vertical distribution wherever it had a meaning - were systematically gathered in a system of fifty-five stations: Transparency (Secchi), Temperature, Salinity, Chlorophylla, Dissolved oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite. These data provide an outline of the annual cycle of nutrients and primary production of the Ivoirian lagoons

Lagune de Biétri: bathymétrie, courants et taux de renouvellement des eaux

An estimation of the currents in the Biétri bay is given (tidal currents and currents due to the wind). They are lower than 10 cm.s-1 in the whole lagoon, and near of 5 cm.s-1 in the eastern part. The measures of salinity and tidal observations give the average rate of water renewal, respectively 0.20 and 0.14 d-1 in the central and eastern areas.

Bibliographie des lagunes et du littoral de Côte d'Ivoire (Afrique de l'Ouest)

The present bibliography collects references on lagoon and coastal environments in Côte d'Ivoire. It is mainly based on: - the draft bibliography prepared by Charles-Dominique and Durand in 1979, edited in the Archives Scientifiques du Centre de Recherches Océanographiques d'Abidjan (vol. 5 no. 2); - the synthesis on the marine environment, published in 1993 (LeLoeuff, Marchal and Amon-Kothias editors); - and the synthesis on the lagoon environment, published in 1994 (Durand, Dufour, Guiral and Zabi editors). In spite of a careful check of the available documents, it is more than possible that references are lacking or erroneous. That's why this bibliography is still a draft, and the author will be glad to receive complements and/or corrections from lectors. After these contributions, a more comprehensive version will be proposed. Remarks can be sent to this e-mail: arfi@ortsom.orstom.fr or to the postal address.

L'oxygène dissous en Lagune Ebrié: Influences de l'hydroclimat et des pollutions

The hydrology of the Ebrie coastal lagoon in Abidjan area is summarized. The authors describe the oxygenation in that area during the two extreme seasons of the hydrological cycle: the low-water season (March-April) and the high-water season (Sept-Oct). The influences of the continental and oceanic waters, photosynthesis, exchanges with the atmosphere and pollution are considered. The oxigen consumption of primary organic pollution represents from 9 to 12% of the content of the waters that circulates in the area. It is geographically very heterogeneous. The central basin, swept by strong marine and fresh water currents, shows a rather high level of water oxygenation. In the peripheric bays, water circulation and mixing are less important and pollution accelerates the natural eutrophic processes. During the low-water season, a vertical stratification is responsible for a bottom anoxic layer and the deposit of reduced organic silts. On the contrary, supersaturations, up to 200%, are recorded on the surface layer. During the high-water season the break of the vertical stratification sets the loose reduced silts into suspension and partly reoxygenates the bottom waters. A classification of the different areas, based on the oxygen vertical profiles is proposed.

Premiers résultats sur l'excrétion et la production du zooplancton de la Lagune Ebrié (Côte d'Ivoire)

Biomass and metabolic rates (total nitrogen and phosphorus excretion and respiration) were measured at 4 stations, representative of the lagoon environment, during high-water (Oct-Nov), dry (Dec-Jan) and rainy (July) seasons. In low-salinity waters (4o/oo) Acartia clausi is almost the only species, whereas a marine and diversified fauna is brought in from the ocean during the dry season. O/NT and O/PT atomic ratios between respiration (O) and total nitrogen (NT) and phosphorus (PT) excretions are high (15.1 and 111, respectively) and show a marked hydrocarbon feeding of zooplankton. Production was assessed from excretion via the net growth efficiency coefficient, K2 , calculated from N/P ratios for particles (a1), zooplankton excretion (a2) and constitution (a3). Daily productivity indices (i.e. daily production/biomass ratio) are high and equivalent to 1.2-3.8 day turn-over times. These high values may be ascribed to high temperatures (26.5-30 C) and phytoplankton richness (surface chlorophyll 'a' concentrations are always greater than 4 mg/m-3). Finally, the paper deals with trophic relationships between phyto- and zooplankton (ingestion /primary production ratio and transfer coefficient) and the question of relationships between zooplankton and predators.

Advantages of using crest nets to sample presettlement larvae of reef fishes in the Caribbean Sea

Identifying the spatial and temporal patterns of larval fish supply and settlement is a key step in understanding the connectivity of meta-populations (Sale et al., 2005). Because of the potentially dispersive nature of the pelagic larval phase of most reef fishes, tracking cohorts from hatching to settlement is extremely difficult (but see Jones et al., 1999). However, for many studies it is sufficient to sample larvae immediately before settlement. Many coral reef fish species use mangrove and seagrass beds as nursery habitats (Nagelkerken et al., 2001; Mumby et al., 2004) and larvae of these species must pass over the reef crest in order to arrive at their preferred settlement habitats. The ability to sample this new cohort of larval fishes provides opportunities for researchers to explore the intricacies of the transition from larva to juvenile (Searcy and Sponaugle, 2001). Quantifying the potential settlers also provides valuable information about the spatial and temporal supply of presettlement larvae (Victor, 1986). Therefore a number of larval sampling methods were developed, one of which is the use of crest nets (Dufour and Galzin, 1993).