Zembra
Zembra (Template:Langx Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handler) is a Tunisian island. The island is a Script error: No such module "convert". rock formation, and as such contains many 400 metre-high cliffs. It has an area of Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] Located Script error: No such module "convert". from El Haouaria and Script error: No such module "convert". from the port of La Goulette, it is a natural extension of the peninsula of Cap Bon. Zembra is a natural fortress that housed a resort until 1976 and then passed into the hands of the Tunisian army. On the southern coast there are remains of an ancient harbour.
Zembra is most probably the same island called Aegimurus (Template:Langx) by many ancient writers.[2][3][4] Pliny the Elder called both Zembra and Zembretta Aegimuri.[5]
Environment
Zembra has a fragile ecosystem[6] and has been classified as a protected area by UNESCO since 1977.[7][8] With the nearby islet of Zembretta, it is also classified as an Important Bird Area (TN003).[9] The island has a Mediterranean climate. The native soils include rock, clay, sand and magnesium lime.
Flora and fauna
Zembra is a local hotspot (nano-hotspot) for the vascular flora on the scale of Tunisia, and an Important Plant Area (IPA) for North Africa.[10] The island's vegetation consists of about 266 plant species; the flora is characterised by a canopy of dense bush, including olive, Phoenician juniper and gorse, and the presence of rare plants which favour saline soils.
There are also invertebrates and terrestrial mammals introduced by humans, such as rabbit, Corsican sheep, black rat and feral cat. Dolphins are also common in the waters surrounding the island. The Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus (CR) used to visit the island, but the last sightings were reported in 1975.[9]
In addition, Zembra is located on an avian migration route between Tunisia and the Strait of Sicily, and hosts more than 25,000 pairs of migrating birds which nest in the rocky cliffs. The island is home to the largest colony of Scopoli's shearwaters in the Mediterranean (20,000 breeding pairs). The 9 km of cliffs of the island also hold 10 breeding pairs of Peregrine falcons Falco peregrinus, one of the highest densities known for this species. Other breeding birds include the rare Audouin's gulls Larus audouinii (10 pairs), European shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis and Caspian gulls Larus cachinnans (100 pairs).[9]
The island, along with the neighbouring islet of Zembretta, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.[11]
References
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- ↑ Directory of marine and coastal protected areas in the Mediterranean region, MAP technical reports series n°26, éd. Programme des Nations unies pour l'environnement, Nairobi, 1989, p. 151 Template:In lang
- ↑ Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, §A42.3
- ↑ Ptolemaeus, Geography, §4.3.44
- ↑ Strabo, Geography, §2.5.19
- ↑ Pliny the Elder, Natural History, §5.7.1
- ↑ Online report of monitoring of flora on the archipelago Zembra and Zembretta Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
- ↑ A rich biological reserve and the presence of rare species in TunisiaScript error: No such module "Unsubst". La Presse de Tunisie, 26 September 2006 Template:In lang
- ↑ Template:In lang Michel Prieur, La mise en œuvre nationale du droit international de l'environnement dans les pays francophones : actes des troisièmes journées scientifiques du Réseau droit de l'environnement de l'Agence universitaire de la francophonie, Yaoundé, Cameroun, 14-15 juin 2001, éd. Presses universitaires de Limoges, Limoges, 2003, p. 461 Template:In lang
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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