Impact of Environmental Conditions on the Biodiversity of Mediterranean Sea Lagoon, Burullus Protected Area, Egypt

Lake Burullus is one of the vulnerable Egyptian coastal lakes suffering from high level of aquatic plant, over fishing, expansion in fish farming and agricultural drainage discharges and increasing of human activities. Eutrophication in water bodies of the lake is associated with growth of the different hydrophytes which have direct effects on Euro-Asian Palaearctic migrants passing Egypt. The water properties of Lake Burullus were evaluated based on one year monitoring seasonally during 2011 for 15 stations representing the eastern, middle and western sectors of the lake. Recent surveys showed that the contents of dissolved salts in the water of Lake Burullus have the following sequence: SiO > NO > PO >NO and high level of dissolved 2 3 4 2 salts was found in the middle basin compared with that reported for the eastern and western basins. Lake Burullus is characterized by having an extensive growth of hydrophytes, particularly along its southern shores beside the outlets of land drains where their growth is favored by the flowing fresh water. One hundred twenty seven bird species and subspecies were recorded in the present survey; there was a remarkable increase in species richness associated with a sharp decrease in the community density