**2. Materials and Methods**

#### *2.1. Study Area*

The Brenne portion of Claise basin (Figure 1) covers an area of 707 km2 and is one of the three entities housing the 4500 ponds of the Brenne Natural Regional Park, which are mostly grouped in the form of interconnected chains [36]. Within the Claise, 2179 of the Brenne waterbodies, along with the Five Bonds channel (Blizon), are the main contributors [49] to the 87.6 km long Claise River having an average discharge of 4.5 m3/s [50]. The basin is mostly dominated by a degraded oceanic climate with a mean temperature of 11 ◦C and average annual precipitation of 700 mm [51]. As to its topographical profile, the basin is considered to be a flat plain, with 99% of its surface falling into the 0%–5% slope class, while its altitude varies between 76 m and 181 m. The six poorly-permeable soil classes of the basin are mostly dominated by Luvisols [36,52]. At a combined state, the Claise's challenging pedology, flat topographical setting, and quasi–impermeable lithology have resulted in the stagnation of incoming water leading to the formation of natural ponds [53]. According to Bennarrous (2009) [37], however, these ponds are not only a product of natural processes but also an anthropogenic adaptation to a poorly drained domain and a source of economic livelihood (aquaculture) in an environment of limited productivity. As a result of intensive pond proliferation throughout time, the basin has acquired a particular hydrographic network characterized by an abundance of different kinds of water bodies. Despite its richness, nonetheless, the hydrographic network of the basin is randomly organized and presents severe fragmentation [54]. In contrast to the evolving pond proliferation, the land occupation setting of the Claise has been relatively unchanged for the last 19 years, mainly displaying a dominance of an interlocked mosaic of forests, grasslands, and agricultural areas [54].
