Beds of grass at Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania:Ecosystem infrastructures underlying avian richness along the East Atlantic Flyway

I (i) first assess seagrass dynamic history using long-term Landsat imagery and compare benthic community structure (biomass, species composition) and secondary productivity (P/B) between historical (1986) and recent (2014) large-scale benthic surveys; (ii) study the effect of hydrodynamic on seagrass stability, morphology, nutrient-content, and its response to nutrient overload; (iii) assess the recovery potential of seagrass after disturbance along an intertidal elevation gradient and identify the main environmental factors affecting the recovery rate; (iv) investigate the underlying mechanisms driving the functioning of the mosaics of Banc d’Arguin; and (v) study waterbird populations dynamics over the last four decades in Banc d’Arguin and discuss possible drivers of changes.