Quantification of Human Impacts on Fish Assemblages in the Upper Volta Catchment, Burkina Faso
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University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Universität für Bodenkultur Wien Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment Department Wasser‐Atmosphäre‐Umwelt Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management Institut für Hydrobiologie und Gewässermanagement Quantification of human impacts on fish assemblages in the Upper Volta catchment, Burkina Faso A thesis submitted to the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria for the award of the „Master of Science“ (MSc) composed by Sebastian Stranzl ACADEMIC SUPERVISORS Ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.‐Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Stefan SCHMUTZ Dipl.‐Ing. Dr. nat.techn. Andreas H. MELCHER University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management Dr. Adama OUEDA Université de Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Laboratoire de Biologie et Ecologie Animale Vienna, May 2014 Acknowledgements I want to thank the OEAD for funding SUSFISH (Sustainable Management of Water and Fish Resources in Burkina Faso), a great APPEAR (Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education & Research for Development) program, in the frame of which I’ve been writing this thesis. Financially I’ve got a great support for my data collection in Burkina Faso from (1) the scholarship for short‐term scientific research work abroad (KUWI), managed by the center for international relations (ZIB) and funded by the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna; and (2) the from the Burkinabe SUSFISH partners who organized our accommodation. Thanks to the local SUSFISH coordinator in Burkina Faso, Dr. Raymond Ouedraogo (Ministry of Research and Education, Ouagadougou) for support in all matters and friendship in Burkina Faso. The work could not have been made without the great cooperation between BOKU and the University of Ouagadougou and the organization talent of Dr. Adama Oueda. Many thanks to my supervisors Prof. Stefan Schmutz and Dr. Andreas Melcher. Dr. Melcher also coordinates the SUSFISH program and friendly supported me in all matters of writing this thesis. Prof. Moog ensured good mood during his stay in Burkina Faso and helped me in the final phase of my thesis. Thanks to Werner Macho for introducing me into and helping me with Quantum GIS. I want to highlight the cooperation and support of all our Burkinabe partners and colleagues who made this trip unforgettable. Tobias Musschoot, Gert Boden and Dr. Emmanuel Vreven were helping us with species determination. I want to thank my family for all the support they gave me all through my life. I also want to thank Theresa Theuretzbacher for her patience and motivation. Cooperation The fieldwork in Burkina Faso was conducted together with (1) the Austrian Applied Limnology students Paul Meulenbroek (fish) Daniel Trauner, and Thomas Koblinger (invertebrates), (2) with Burkinabe LAEB (Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Biology) students and (3) local fishermen, especially Noufou Bonkoungou aka DumDum who accompanied us on every field trip. I want to thank them for friendship and cooperation. Additionally to field work also species determination, analyses and writing of the introduction and methods was done in close cooperation with Paul Meulenbroek and Mano Komandan. Parts of this work (especially the chapters introduction and methods) were initially composed together with Paul Meulenbroek and Mano Komandan. 2 Abstract Fish is an important protein source for the population of Burkina Faso. However, overfishing, fragmentation, loss of habitat, agriculture and other human pressures decline the fish population’s diversity and biomass in the Burkinabe water bodies. Biological indices are essential for the assessment of water and ecosystem health and sustainable management to assure food security and healthy water bodies. The goal of this thesis is to characterize fish assemblages in the sampling area, to find out about human pressures on the fish community, to implement a fish, habitat and pressures database and to find species and metrics which react on pressures. The six sampling areas in the Nakambe catchment between the reservoir of Loumbila, North of Ouagadougou and the border of Ghana are exposed to pressure intensities. Altogether, 37 sites and 137 habitats were sampled. Each habitat was fished electrically and with a cast net. On site, adjacent landuse, stressors and physicochemical parameters were noted. With GIS, land use was refined, and migration barriers were identified. Most common families are Cichlidae and Cyprinidae, which together make out more than 50% of all caught individuals, whereas Anabantidae and Citharinidae are heavily endangered. The tested fish metrics react on the pressure intensity. This means, with increasing pressure, the fish stock decreases. Especially the relative abundance of Mormyridae show a distinct drop with the pressure intensity, while Cichlidae and Cyprinidae increase. Other authors (Hugueny et al. 1996; Anne, Lelek, and Tobias 1994) show the same trends. We also found some sentinel taxa like Auchenoglanis and Hydrocynus, which were only caught in low‐pressure sites. This work is a basis for a fish based assessment method in Burkina Faso, which will be implemented by Burkinabe students in the frame of the SUSFISH project, helping managers to protect their waters in West Africa. Keywords: Freshwater, Fish, Indicator taxa, Human impacts, Cast net, Electric fishing, Burkina Faso, West Africa 3 Abstract Fische sind eine wichtige Eiweißquelle für Burkina Fasos Bevölkerung. Überfischung, Fragmentierung, Lebensraumverlust, Landwirtschaft und andere menschliche Einflüsse führten zu einer Abnahme der Fischbiomasse und ‐biodiversität in Burkina Fasos Gewässern. Biologische Bewertungsmethoden sind wichtig für die Erhebung der Qualität von Wasser und Ökosystemen um die Ernährungssicherheit und gesunde Gewässer zu gewährleisten. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist eine Charakterisierung der Fischzusammensetzung im Untersuchungsgebiet und die Identifizierung von Stressoren und Zeigerarten, sowie die Implementierung einer Fisch, Habitat und Belastungsdatenbank. Die sechs Probengebiete im Nakambe Einzugsgebiet zwischen Loumbila nördlich von Ouagadougou und der ghanaischen Grenze sind unterschiedlichen Belastungsintensitäten ausgesetzt. Es wurden 37 Probestellen und 137 Habitate beprobt. Jedes Habitat wurde elektrisch und mit einem Wurfnetz befischt. Vor Ort wurden die angrenzende Landnutzung, Stressoren und physikalisch‐chemische Parameter erhoben. Mithilfe von GIS wurden die Landnutzung und das Vorkommen von Migrationsbarrieren überprüft. Die häufigsten Familien waren Cichlidae und Cyprinidae die gemeinsam über 50% der gefangenen Individuen ausmachen. Anabantidae und Citharinidae sind stark gefährdet. Die getesteten Fisch‐metrics reagieren auf die Belastungsintensität, mit zunehmender Belastung nimmt auch der Fischbestand ab. Besonders Mormyridae haben eine starke Abnahme mit der Belastungsintensität, während Cichlidae und Cyprinidae zunehmen. Andere Autoren (Hugueny et al. 1996; Anne, Lelek, and Tobias 1994) zeigen dieselben Trends. Wir fanden auch einige Zeigertaxa wie Auchenoglanis und Hydrocynus die nur in wenig belasteten Probestellen gefangen wurden. Diese Arbeit kann eine Basis für einen Fischindex für Burkina Faso darstellen, der im Rahmen des SUSFISH Projekts von Studierenden aus Burkina Faso erstellt wird um das Management der Gewässer in West Afrika zu erleichtern. Stichwörter: Süßwasser, Fisch, Indikator Taxa, menschliche Belastungen, Wurfnetz, Elektrofischen, Burkina Faso, West Afrika 4 5 Table of content 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 8 BURKINA FASO ......................................................................................................................... 9 CATCHMENTS, HYDROLOGY ......................................................................................................... 9 ANTHROPOGENIC PRESSURES IN BURKINA FASO ............................................................................. 12 FISH AS BIOINDICATORS ............................................................................................................ 12 SPECIFIC AFRICAN PROBLEMS ..................................................................................................... 13 THE SUSFISH PROJECT ............................................................................................................ 13 2. METHODS .................................................................................................................... 16 STUDY AREA, SAMPLING SITE SELECTION AND WORKFLOW ................................................................. 16 FIELD SAMPLING – ENVIRONMENTAL DATA .................................................................................... 20 FIELD SAMPLING: FISH DATA ...................................................................................................... 24 SPECIES DETERMINATION .......................................................................................................... 25 DATA HANDLING AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 25 METRIC CALCULATIONS ............................................................................................................ 29 3. RESULTS .....................................................................................................................