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• Reference and further resources

Site description (2001 baseline)
Gâat Sawana (more than 800 ha) and Tâmourt Oum Lellé (more than 400 ha) are located 67 km south-east of the regional capital, Ayoûn. Gâat Sawana is a clay depression on an open plain where seasonal rains accumulate. It is an important area for traditional flood-recession agriculture. When flooded, it presents a large open expanse of water with abundant aquatic vegetation. Rainwater is fed in from two wadis and water reaches a depth of up to 1 m. Water is retained in the depression for five to eight months. The sandy zone around the depression supports grasses such as Cenchrus biflorus, Panicum and Aristida spp. and trees and bushes including Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Balanites aegyptiaca and Acacia raddiana. The vegetation of the floodable zone inlcudes Helioptropium sp.,Indigofera sp., Eragrostis tremula, Sesbania leptocarpa and Cyperus esculentus, while the aquatic zone on clay soils supports Cyperus sp., Nymphaea sp., Sporobolus helvolus, Oryza barthii and Ipomoea aquatica with Acacia nilotica and Ziziphus mauritiana.

Oum Lellé lies 11 km north of Sawana in another clay-lined depression. The tâmourt is deeper than the gâat, holds water for longer and is characterized by a woodland of Acacia nilotica in the centre of the depression and by the absence of aquatic vegetation. The surrounding area is a zone of rich pastoral land dominated by grasses such as Cenchrus biflorus, Panicum and Aristida spp. while trees and shrubs include Acacia raddiana, A. ehrenbergiana, Balanites aegyptiaca and Leptadenia pyrotechnica.

Key biodiversity
See Box for key species. In January 2000, 85 Aythya nyroca and 17,000 Anas querquedula were recorded at this site.

Non-bird biodiversity: The tortoise Geochelone sulcata (VU) occurs.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sawana - Oum Lellé (Mauritania). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sawana--oum-lellé-iba-mauritania on 22/11/2024.