Faunal diversity in a cereal medium of Chlef region (Algeria)
Mohammedi Ahmed
Cereals are a staple food in North Africa, particularly in Algeria. But their production is diminished every year, especially by depredation by pests that is why we conducted this study. It consists of an inventory of the fauna subservient to a cereal medium (durum wheat fields) in the Chlef region. For this, we used pitfall traps and capture by the sweep net. This allowed us to identify 72 species of which 62 species were of insects (86.11%). In terms of numbers, this fauna includes 770 individuals comprising 715 insects (92.86%). The rest is represented by crustaceans (2.21%), gastropods and mammals (1.17%), arachnids (1.04%) and reptiles (0.65%). The insects are dominated by the orthopterans (44.2%), followed closely by the coleopterans (36.4%). The other orders are less represented. This fauna was considered more or less diversified, but their diversity is high in spring and summer, a little less in autumn and lower in winter. Regarding the status of the fauna inventoried, the pests of crops represent 79.22%. However, the species considered as useful to plants and agriculture generally reach 17.69%. Thus, the preservation and protection of these indigenous auxiliary allows the regulation of pest populations and contribute, even in part, at the increased production of that food.