The ecological relationships of aquatic plants at Lake Naivasha, Kenya
✍ Scribed by David Harper
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1992
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 461 KB
- Volume
- 232
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1573-5141
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✦ Synopsis
The distribution and abundance of the aquatic flora of Lake Naivasha has been constrained by two ecosystem-level processes . One is the natural and unpredictable fluctuation of water levels which the lake experiences, resulting in a drawdown zone of several vertical meters . The other is the consequence of herbivory by several alien species, linked with competition between rooted aquatic plants and phytoplankton .
The effects of alien introductions in the 1960s and 1970s was to eliminate submerged vegetation from the lake completely by 1982, principally by crayfish herbivory . Vegetation has been progressively returning since 1984 and this return is coincident with a decline in crayfish population density .
Concentrations of phytoplankton have progressively increased since 1982 as a result of nutrient increase caused by a decline in water level and papyrus swamp clearance for agriculture . The relationship between high levels of phytoplankton and extensive littoral weed beds is discussed .