The composition of fish communities of nine Ethiopian lakes along a north-south gradient: threats and possible solutions
In: Animal BiologySearch for other papers by Jacobus Vijverberg in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Eshete Dejen in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Abebe Getahun in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Leopold A.J. Nagelkerke in
Current site
Google Scholar
Fish populations of nine Ethiopian freshwater lakes were quantitatively sampled with a standardized protocol, using multi-mesh gill nets. In total, 27 species were identified, but only 14 species were common. Based on the common species, the fish communities showed large differences in their species composition, except for Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo which were similar. Most fish species were observed in only one or two lakes. Compared with the information reported in literature the present study generally underestimated the species richness. The empirical model of Amarasinghe and Welcomme (2002) for African lakes was used to estimate fish species richness, which was compared with species presence reported in literature. Biodiversity in the two northern highland lakes is low, but not lower than the model estimate. Lake Tana has a high biodiversity which is close to what is estimated by the model, but three Rift Valley lakes have low biodiversity, lower than estimated by the model. There are also strong indications for the Rift Valley lakes that species richness was higher in the past because the species richness reported in the older literature was generally much higher than those observed by us in the present study and those reported in the more recent literature. Threats like overfishing, high sediment load and degradation of habitats were identified. It is recommended that Ethiopia should develop guidelines for fishery legislation and implement it through an enforcement agency. Moreover, catchments management should be practiced to save the water bodies and their fish communities.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Abebe E., Getachew T. (1992) Seasonal changes in the nutritional status of Oreochromis niloticus Linn. (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Arch. Hydrobiol., 124, 109-122.
-
Alemayehu T., McCartney M., Kebede S. (2009) Simulation of water resource development and environmental flows in the lake Tana Subbasin. In: Awulachew S.B., Erkossa T., Smakhtin V., Fernando A. (Eds.) Improved Water and Land Management in the Ethiopian Highlands: Its Impact on Downstream Stakeholders Dependent on the Blue Nile. Intermediate Results Dissemination Workshop, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 5-6 February 2009. Summary report, abstracts of papers with proceedings on CD-ROM. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka, DOI: 10.3910/2009.201.
-
Amarasinghe U.S., Welcomme R.L. (2002) An analysis of fish species richness in natural lakes. Environ. Biol. Fish., 65, 327-339.
-
Anteneh W., Getahun A., Dejen E. (2008) The spawning migration of Labeobarbus species of Lake Tana (Ethiopia) to Ribb River. In: 4th International Conference of the Pan African Fish and Fisheries Association (PAFFA). The Department of Biology, Addis Ababa University, The Ethiopian Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Association, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
-
Baxter R.M. (2002) Lake morphology and chemistry. In: Tudorancea C., Taylor W.D. (Eds.) Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes. Biology of Inland Waters Series, pp. 45-60. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
-
Baxter R.M., Golobitsch D.L. (1970) A note on the limnology of Lake Hayk, Ethiopia. Limnol. Oceanogr., 15, 144-148.
-
Begon M., Harper J.L., Townsend C.R. (1996) Ecology: Individuals, Populations and Communities. 3rd edition. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
-
Bjørkli S.-G. (2004) The fisheries in Lake Awassa, Ethiopia; estimation of annual yield. M.Sc. Thesis. Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Aas.
-
Burnside Consultancy (2008) Supplementary work to Ministry of Water Resources, ESIA for the Ribb Dam. Final Report. MoWR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 136 pp.
-
Cannicci G., Almagia F. (1947) Notizie sulla ‘facies’ planktonica di alcuni laghi della Fossa Galla. Bolletina di Pesca, Piscicultura e Idrobiologia (nuova serie), 2, 54-77.
-
de Graaf M., Machiels M.A.M., Wudneh T., Sibbing F.A. (2004) Declining stocks of Lake Tana’s endemic Barbus species flock (Pisces; Cyprinidae): natural variation or human impact? Biological Conservation, 116, 277-287.
-
de Graaf M., Nentwich E.D., Osse J.W.M., Sibbing F.A. (2005) Lacustrine spawning: is this a new reproductive strategy among ‘large’ African cyprinid fishes? J. Fish Biol., 66, 1214-1236.
-
de Graaf M., van Zwieten P.A.M., Machiels M.A.M., Lemma E., Wudneh T., Dejen E., Sibbing F.A. (2006) Vulnerability to a small-scale commercial fishery of Lake Tana’s (Ethiopia) endemic Labeobarbus compared with African catfish and Nile tilapia: an example of recruitment-overfishing? Fish. Res., 82, 304-318.
-
de Graaf M., Dejen E., Osse J.W.M., Sibbing F.A. (2008) Adaptive radiation of Lake Tana’s (Ethiopia) Labeobarbus species flock (Pisces, Cyprinidae). Marine and Freshwater Research, 59, 391-407.
-
Dejen E. (2008) Wetlands and fishery resources: the impact of wetland degradation on fishery resources. In: Proceedings of the National Stakeholders’ Workshop on Creating National Commitment for Wetland Policy and Strategy Development in Ethiopia, pp. 60-71. Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Associations (EWNRA), Addis Ababa.
-
Dejen E., Sibbing F.A., Vijverberg J. (2003) Reproductive strategies of two sympatric ‘small barbs’ (Barbus humilis and B. tanapelagius, Cyprinidae) in Lake Tana, Ethiopia. Neth. J. Zool., 52, 281-299.
-
Dejen E., Vijverberg J., Nagelkerke L.A.J., Sibbing F.A. (2004) Temporal and spatial distribution of microcrustacean zooplankton in relation to turbidity and other environmental factors in a large tropical lake (L. Tana, Ethiopia). Hydrobiologia, 513, 39-49.
-
Dejen E., Vijverberg J., de Graaf M., Sibbing F.A. (2006) Predicting and testing resource partitioning in a tropical fish assemblage of zooplanktivorous barbs: an ecomorphological approach. J. Fish Biol., 69, 1356-1378.
-
Dejen E., Vijverberg J., Nagelkerke L.A.J., Sibbing F.A. (2009) Growth, biomass, and production of two small barbs (Barbus humilis and B. tanapelagius, Cyprinidae) and their role in the food web of Lake Tana (Ethiopia). Hydrobiologia, 636, 89-100.
-
Froese R., Pauly D. (2008) FishBase: fish data base. Available at http://www.fishbase.org. WorldFish Center, Penang, Malaysia.
-
Gebre-Mariam Z. (2002) The Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes: major threats and strategies for conservation. In: Tudorancea C., Taylor W.D. (Eds.) Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes. Biology of Inland Waters Series, pp. 259-271. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
-
Gebre-Mariam Z., Dadebo E. (1989) Water resources and fisheries management in the Ethiopian Rift-Valley Lakes. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci., 12, 95-109.
-
Gebre-Mariam Z., Kebede-Westhead E., Desta Z. (2002) Long-term changes in chemical features of waters of seven Ethiopian Rift-valley lakes. Hydrobiologia, 477, 81-91.
-
Getahun A., Stiassny M.L.J. (1998) The freshwater biodiversity crisis: the case of the Ethiopian fish fauna. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci., 21, 207-230.
-
Getahun A., Dejen E., Anteneh W. (2008) Fishery studies of Ribb River, Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia. Final Report E1573, Vol. 2. Ethiopian Nile Irrigation and Drainage Project Coordination Office, Ministry of Water Resources.
-
Golubtsov A.S., Dgebuadze Y.Y., Mina M.V. (2002) Fishes of the Ethiopian Rift Valley. In: Tudorancea C., Taylor W.D. (Eds.) Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes. Biology of Inland Water Series, pp. 167-258. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
-
Hunt R.J., Matveev V., Jones G.J., Warburton K. (2003) Structuring of the cyanobacterial community by pelagic fish in subtropical reservoirs: experimental evidence from Australia. Freshwat. Biol., 48, 1482-1495.
-
International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) (1992) Water Quality – Measurement of Biochemical Parameters. Spectrophotometric Determination of the Chlrophyll-a Determination: ISO 10260. Beuth Verlag GmbH Berlin-Vien-Zürich, Geneva, Switzerland.
-
Kalff J. (2002) Limnology – Inland Water Ecosystems. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
-
Kebede E., Getachew T., Taylor W.D., Gebre-Mariam Z. (1992) Eutrophication of Lake Hayk in the Ethiopian highlands. J. Plankton Res., 14, 1473-1482.
-
Kebede E., Gebre-Mariam Z., Ahlgren I. (1994) The Ethiopian Rift valley lakes: chemical characteristics of a salinity-alkalinity series. Hydrobiologia, 288, 1-12.
-
Kibret T., Harrison A.D. (1989) The benthic and weed-bed faunas of Lake Awasa (Rift Valley, Ethiopia). Hydrobiologia, 174, 1-15.
-
Le Cren E.D., Lowe-McConnel R.H. (Eds.) (1980) The Functioning of Freshwater Ecosystems. International Biological Programme, Vol. 22. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
-
Lévêque C. (1995) Role and consequences of fish diversity in the functioning of African freshwater ecosystems: a review. Aquat. Living Resour., 8, 59-78.
-
Lévêque C., Oberdorff T., Paugy D., Stiassny M.L.J., Tedesco P.A. (2008) Global diversity of fish (Pisces) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia, 595, 545-567.
-
Marshall M.H. (2006) Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeolimnology of Lakes Tana and Ashenge, northern Ethiopia. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
-
Mattson N.S., Balavong V., Nilsson H., Phounsavath S., Hartmann W.D. (2001) Changes in fisheries yield and catch composition at the Nam Ngum Reservoir, Lao PDR. In: De Silva S.S. (Ed.) Reservoir and Culture-Based Fisheries: Biology and Management, pp. 48-55. ACIAR Publication, Vol. 98. Canberra, Australia.
-
McCartney M., Alemayehu T., Shiferaw A., Awulachew S.B. (2010) Evaluation of current and future water resources development in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia. IWMI Research Report 134. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 39 pp. DOI: 10.3910/2010.204.
-
Mohammed B., de Graaf M., Nagelkerke L.A.J., Mingist M., Anteneh W. (in press) Lake Tana’s (Ethiopia) endemic Labeobarbus species flock; an uncertain future threatened by exploitation, land use and water resource developments. In: Proceedings of the Ethiopian Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Association (EFASA) Meeting, University of Haramaya, Harar, Ethiopia, 4-6 February 2011.
-
Nagelkerke L.A.J., Sibbing F.A. (1996) Reproductive segregation among the Barbus intermedius complex of Lake Tana, Ethiopia. An example of intralacustrine speciation? J. Fish Biol., 49, 1244-1266.
-
Nagelkerke L.A.J., Sibbing F.A. (2000) The large barbs (Barbus spp., Cyprinidae, Teleostei) of Lake Tana (Ethiopia), with a description of a new species, Barbus osseensis. Neth. J. Zool., 50, 179-214.
-
Northcote T.G. (1988) Fish in structure and function of freshwater ecosytems: a ‘top down’ view. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 45, 361-379.
-
Palstra A.P., de Graaf M., Sibbing F.A. (2004) Riverine spawning and reproductive segregation in a lacustrine cyprinid species flock, facilitated by homing? Animal Biology, 54, 393-415.
-
Pauly D., Christensen V., Dalsgaards J., Froese R., Torres F. Jr. (1998) Fishing down marine webs. Science, 279, 860-863.
-
Reyntjens D., Mengistu T., Wudneh T., Palin C. (1998) Fisheries development in Ethiopia – which way now? Europ. Comm. Fish. Bull., 11, 20-22.
-
Reyntjens D., Wudneh T. (1998) Fisheries management – a review of the current status and research needs in Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci., 21, 231-266.
-
Roberts T.R. (1993) Just another damned river? Negative impacts of Pak Mun Dam on fishes of the Mekong basin. Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam. Soc., 41, 105-133.
-
Rzoska J. (1976) Lake Tana, headwaters of the Blue Nile. In: Rzoska J. (Ed.) The Nile, Biology of an Ancient River, pp. 223-232. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, The Netherlands.
-
Schröder R. (1984) An attempt to estimate the fish stock and sustainable yield of Lake Ziway and Lake Abaya, Ethiopian Rift Valley. Arch. Hydrobiol., 69 (Supplement), 411-441.
-
Seyoum S. (1990) Molecular identification of Tilapine fish introduced into Langano, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci., 14, 29-40.
-
Taylor W.D., Kebede E., Gebre-Mariam Z. (2002) Primary and secondary production in the pelagic zone of Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes. In: Tudorancea C., Taylor W.D. (Eds.) Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes. Biology of Inland Water Series, pp. 95-108. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
-
Teferi Y., Admassu D. (2002) Length-weight relationship, body condition and sex ratio of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) in Lake Chamo, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci., 25, 19-26.
-
Teferra S. (1994) Basic facts about the population of Ethiopia and its needs. In: Panel on Population-Resource Balance, pp. 20-29. The Biological Society of Ethiopia, Faculty of Science, Addis Ababa University, June, 1994.
-
Thomas C.D. (1994) Extinction, colonisation and metapopulations: environmental tracking by rare species. Conserv. Biol., 8, 373-378.
-
Vanden Bossche J.P., Bernacsek G.M. (1991) Source book for the inland fishery resources of Africa: 3. CIFA Technical Paper No. 18.3. FAO, Rome, 219 pp.
-
Winberg G.G., Mann K.H., Talling J.F., Golterman H.L., Blažka P. (1971) Symbols, Units and Conversion Factors in Studies of Freshwater Productivity. IBP Central Office, London, UK.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1154 | 205 | 5 |
| Full Text Views | 262 | 5 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 89 | 8 | 0 |
The composition of fish communities of nine Ethiopian lakes along a north-south gradient: threats and possible solutions
In: Animal BiologySearch for other papers by Jacobus Vijverberg in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Eshete Dejen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Abebe Getahun in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Leopold A.J. Nagelkerke in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Fish populations of nine Ethiopian freshwater lakes were quantitatively sampled with a standardized protocol, using multi-mesh gill nets. In total, 27 species were identified, but only 14 species were common. Based on the common species, the fish communities showed large differences in their species composition, except for Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo which were similar. Most fish species were observed in only one or two lakes. Compared with the information reported in literature the present study generally underestimated the species richness. The empirical model of Amarasinghe and Welcomme (2002) for African lakes was used to estimate fish species richness, which was compared with species presence reported in literature. Biodiversity in the two northern highland lakes is low, but not lower than the model estimate. Lake Tana has a high biodiversity which is close to what is estimated by the model, but three Rift Valley lakes have low biodiversity, lower than estimated by the model. There are also strong indications for the Rift Valley lakes that species richness was higher in the past because the species richness reported in the older literature was generally much higher than those observed by us in the present study and those reported in the more recent literature. Threats like overfishing, high sediment load and degradation of habitats were identified. It is recommended that Ethiopia should develop guidelines for fishery legislation and implement it through an enforcement agency. Moreover, catchments management should be practiced to save the water bodies and their fish communities.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1154 | 205 | 5 |
| Full Text Views | 262 | 5 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 89 | 8 | 0 |