Total of 10 Pages Only May Be Xeroxed
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CENTRE FOR NeWFOUNDLAND STUDIES TOTAL OF 10 PAGES ONLY MAY BE XEROXED (Without Author·s Penni» ion) Fish Community Ecology in Relation to Land Use and Lotic Parameters in the Mnembo River Catchment (Southern Africa) by © Leanda Marie Delaney A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Faculty of Science Environmental Science Programme Memorial University of Newfoundland January 2006 . St. John's Newfoundland & Labrador Library and Bibliotheque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de !'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-19355-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-19355-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a Ia Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par !'Internet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve Ia propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni Ia these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a Ia loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur Ia protection de Ia vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ant ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans Ia pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Abstract Endorheic Lake Chilwa is one of the most productive lakes in Africa, contributing up to 24% of total fish production in protein-starved Malawi. High population density and agricultural practices in the Chilwa catchment have been linked to declines in the number and size of the commercially important Barbus species. The Mnembo River is a major inflow into Lake Chilwa which has received little scientific study to date. In 2003/2004, water quality parameters and fish abundance and distribution were monitored monthly at 3 sites in the Mnembo River to provide data for a lake management plan. Studies on smaller inflows into Lake Chilwa have implicated sediment yield, discharge, conductivity and total suspended solids (TSS) as influences on Barbus migration. Barbus catch was negatively correlated with discharge and pH in the Mnembo River. Female Barbus spawning condition (Gonadosomatic Index) was positively correlated with rainfall and water temperature and negatively correlated with TSS concentrations. Within Lake Chilwa's watershed, sediment yield in the Mnembo River (56t km-2 yr" 1 2 1 ) was significantly lower than in the Likangala (374t km- yr" ) and Demasi Rivers 2 1 (315t km- yr" ) likely due to lower agricultural activity in the Mnembo catchment. 2 1 Elevated rates of soil loss (0.30t km- yr" ) in the Mnembo catchment were mainly attributed to steep slopes rather than poor land use practices as is the case in the Likangala and Demasi catchments. Compared to Lake Chilwa's other catchments, the Mnembo River catchment is in better condition, however current land use practices will cause degradation to rapidly increase until a sustainable management strategy for the Lake Chilwa watershed is implemented. ii Acknowledgements I want to initially thank Dr. Mark Prein and Dr. Daniel Jamu from the WorldFish Center for giving me the avenue in which to pursue my Masters. To my supervisors Dr. Daniel Jamu and Dr. Christine Campbell, I want to thank Dr. Jamu for giving me the ideas and tools to develop the framework of the project and to Dr. Christine Campbell for her assistance with completing the thesis and for her nursing skills when I was sick with Malaria. To Dr. Murray Colbo thank you for adopting me and for giving me a place to sit and write my thesis. I want to thank CCLF - Canadian CGIAR Linkage Fund for providing the monetary funds to pursue my Masters and research in Malawi and for aiding the successful progression of the Lake Chilwa Mnembo project. To my fellow grad students, Wout and Messias, without your helpful ideas this thesis would have been an extremely frustrating experience. To my bambo of Africa 'Zikomo quimbili' for your help with the project and for your moral support throughout my time in Malawi. Additionally, I would like to say to all my friends in Malawi 'mukusowa quimbili tasaowana. lndatakosa!' Finally I want to thank with all my heart my parents; my father for his wonderful sense of humour and to my mother for her unconditional love and also to my brother and sister for being an ear when times were a bit tough. iii Table of Contents Abstract ..........................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ............................................................................~ ................................. ix 1 General Introduction 1 1.1 Lake Chilwa and its catchments ........................................................... 1 1.2 Project rationale for Mnembo studY...................................................... 6 1.3 Location of sampling sites .....................................................................9 2 Seasonal variations in the Physio-Chemical and Hydrological Characterist- ics (Limnological Parameters) of the Mnembo River 15 2.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................15 2.2 Materials and methods ............................................................................ 17 2.2.1 Physio-chemical water quality sampling.............................. 17 2.2.2 Hydrological and habitat classification ................................. 18 2.2.3 Statistical procedure ............................................................... 19 2.3 Results .......................................................................................................22 2.3.1 Hydrological and habitat characteristics.............................. 22 2.3.2 Physio-chemical characteristics............................................ 26 2.3.3 Comparison between river catchments .............................. 32 2.4 Discussion .................................................................................................36 2.4.1 Physio-chemical and hydrological characteristics............. 36 2.4.2 Comparison between river catchments .............................. 39 3 Abundance and Distribution of Fish in the Lower Mnembo River 41 3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................41 3.2 Material and methods .............................................................................43 3.3 Results .......................................................................................................45 3.3.1 Fish diversity in the Mnembo River .................................... .45 3.3.2 Abundance and size of fish in the Mnembo River ........... .45 3.3.3 Seasonal distribution of species ........................................... 50 3.4 Discussion .................................................................................................60 4 Effect of land use in the Mnembo River Catchment on Limnological Parameters and Fish with Particular Reference to Barbus spp. 65 4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................65 4.2 Material and methods .............................................................................68 4.2.1 Fish abundance and distribution .......................................... 68 4.2.2 Barbus reproductive status .................................................... 68 4.2.3 Gonad preservation time ........................................................ 70 4.2.4 Limnological parameters......................................................... 70 4.2.5 Land use patterns .................................................................... 70 4.2.6 Soil erosion modelling ........................................................... .71 4.2.7 Topographic factor, (X) ......................................................... ..72 4.2.8 Soil erodability, (K) .................................................................. 73 iv 4.2.9 Vegetation canopy factor, (C) ............................................. ..79 4.2.1 0 Estimated sediment yield