Land use and cover changes in the Likangala catchment of the Lake Chilwa basin, Malawi: implications for managing a tropical wetland
| Autor: | JB Chimphamba, DM Jamu, R E Brummett |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2003 |
| Předmět: |
Hydrology
geography geography.geographical_feature_category biology Land use business.industry Drainage basin Barbus Wetland Aquatic Science Structural basin biology.organism_classification Agriculture Agricultural land Deforestation Environmental science business Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
| Zdroj: | African Journal of Aquatic Science. 28:123-135 |
| ISSN: | 1727-9364 1608-5914 |
| Popis: | This study analyses land use and cover changes in the Likangala River catchment of Lake Chilwa, Malawi, an endorheic tropical African lake. It also examines how land use-related physico-chemical and hydrological parameters in two affluent rivers of the lake affect the migratory and reproductive behaviour of Barbus paludinosus and B. trimaculatus, which are migratory, ecologically and economically important fish species. Land use analysis indicated increasing deforestation and conversion of agricultural land to homestead development. High soil losses of 100t ha–1 yr–1 were estimated in the upper reaches of the catchment. High rainfall kinetic energy and poor vegetation cover were major determinants of soil loss. Sediment yield was high (374t km–2 yr–1) in the more degraded catchment of the Likangala River, compared to 315t km–2 yr–1 in the less degraded Domasi River catchment. A situation analysis for the Likangala River catchment showed that a marked reduction in soil loss occurred when a combined 20% inc... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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