Ecology, fish and fishery of Lake Liambezi, a recently refilled floodplain lake in the Zambezi Region, Namibia

Peel, Richard A.; Tweddle, Denis; Simasiku, Evans Kamwi; Martin, G.; Lubanda, J; Hay, Clinton J.; Weyl, Olaf L. F.

doi:10.2989/16085914.2015.1105779

Cited by 9 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Lake Liambezi is a shallow ephemeral floodplain lake situated in the Zambezi Region of Namibia in southern Africa (Figure a) that was described in detail by Peel et al . (). Rains fall during austral summer from October to April and are highly variable, averaging c .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Sampling of the fish population was carried out annually in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR; data available from 2007–2012) during its annual monitoring surveys and supplemented by additional, more frequent surveys completed in 2010–2011 and 2013–2014 (Supporting Information Tables S1); sampling techniques are described in Peel et al . (). Briefly, fish communities were sampled using standardised multifilament gill‐nets (110.0 × 2.5 m) with stretched mesh sizes of 12, 16, 22, 28, 35, 45, 57, 73, 93, 118 and 150 mm and baited longlines (20 m long, 20 × 9/0 circle hooks on 0.8 mm monofilament snoods of 1 m in length).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The lake reached a peak surface area of around 370 km 2 during successive floods in 2010 and 2011 and remained inundated, despite minimal inflow until 2017. The lake hosts a thriving fish community (Peel et al, ), the success of which is probably due to its integration of multiple lake food chains and behavioural adaptations to changing dietary resources (R.A. Peel, D. Tweddle, E.K. Simasiku, G.D. Martin, J. Lubanda, C.J.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence of high fish biomass in the lake, it supports an active fishery, with large meshed (76–114 mm) monofilament gill‐nets used to target large cichlid species, especially Oreochromis andersonii (Castelnau 1861) and Oreochromis macrochir (Boulenger 1912) and subsistence fishers are capable of removing substantial biomass, for example c . 27 00 t year –1 in 2011–2012 (Peel et al, ). This reduction in species biomass probably has a significant direct effect on the fish assemblage structure in Lake Liambezi.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species succession and the development of a lacustrine fish community in an ephemeral lake

Peel

Hill

Taylor

et al. 2019

Journal of Fish Biology

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Here, we present a gillnet survey of Lake Liambezi a 370 km 2 shallow ephemeral floodplain lake situated in north-eastern Namibia, which is fed irregularly by the upper Zambezi and Kwando Rivers during years of high flooding. The lake dried up in 1985 and, with the exception of sporadic minor annual inundation events, remained dry until 2007. We describe the temporal succession of fish species over an 8 year period from initial inundation 2007 to maturation in 2014. The succession of the fish community did not follow the typical pattern of opportunistic strategists during colonisation, to periodic strategists that are eventually succeeded by equilibrium strategists. Instead, the evolution of the fish community was characterised by three distinct phases. The first phase involved the inundation and colonisation of the lake in 2007, followed by its decline until the floods that filled the lake in 2009. During this phase the lake was colonised by fishes from the adjacent upper Zambezi and Chobe River floodplains. Fish communities predominantly comprised floodplain specialists including the barbs Enteromius paludinosus and Enteromius poechii, the mormyrid Marcusenius altisambesi and catfishes Schilbe intermedius and Clarias gariepinus. The filling of the lake in the March 2009 floods marked the beginning of the second, successional phase. The barbs declined in abundance and the alestid Rhabdalestes maunensis underwent explosive population growth between 2009 and 2010, but populations crashed equally rapidly and were replaced by Brycinus lateralis which, together with S. intermedius went on to dominate the fish community 2011-2014. Larger, slower growing tilapiine cichlids increased steadily in abundance and became the dominant components in a 2700 t y -1 artisanal fishery that developed on the lake. The fish community in the ephemeral Lake Liambezi is clearly influenced by numerous factors including connectivity, lake level

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Species succession and the development of a lacustrine fish community in an ephemeral lake

Peel

Hill

Taylor

et al. 2019

Journal of Fish Biology

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“…Water phenology that is unpredictable and of short duration produces the strongest filter against life history uses (bottom left, Figures b and ), whereas the most life history uses, for the most species, are expected in habitats that are highly predictable or inundated for long periods of time (top right, Figure b, climaxing at perennial habitat). We hypothesize that filter strength is an additive function of duration and predictability (rather than a multiplicative one) because high predictability can offset short durations (Gibson, ) and long durations may offset unpredictability (Peel et al, ). Consider predictability and duration of a TAH both as continuous values ranging from 0 (unpredictable and short) to 1 (predictable and long), and a third axis representing filter strength and scaled from 0 (strong filter) to 1 (weak filter, Figure ).…”

Section: Phenology Of Surface Water As a Life History Filtermentioning

confidence: 99%

A general model of temporary aquatic habitat use: Water phenology as a life history filter

et al. 2019

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Temporary aquatic habitats are not widely appreciated fish habitat. However, fish navigate the transient waters of intertidal zones, floodplains, intermittent and ephemeral streams, lake margins, seasonally frozen lakes and streams, and anthropogenic aquatic habitats across the globe to access important resources. The selective pressures imposed by water impermanence (i.e., freezing, drying, tidal fluctuations), however, operate similarly across taxa and ecosystems. These similarities are formalized into a conceptual model relating habitat use to surface water phenology. Whereas all necessary life history functions (spawning, foraging, refuge, and dispersal) can be accomplished in temporary habitats, the timing, duration, and predictability of water act as a “life history filter” to which habitats can be used and for what purpose. Habitats wet from minutes to months may all be important—albeit in different ways, for different species. If life history needs co‐occur with accessibility, temporary habitats can contribute substantially to individual fitness, overall production and important metapopulation processes. This heuristic is intended to promote research, recognition and conservation of these frequently overlooked habitats that can be disproportionately important relative to their size or brevity of existence. There is a pressing need to quantify how use of temporary aquatic habitats translates to individual fitness benefits, population size and temporal stability, and ecosystem‐level consequences. Temporary aquatic habitats are being impacted at an alarming rate by anthropogenic activities altering their existence, phenology, and connectivity. It is timely that scientists, managers and policymakers consider the role these habitats play in global fish production.

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Landscapes and Landforms of the Chobe Enclave, Northern Botswana

Mokatse

Diaz

Shemang

et al. 2022

World Geomorphological Landscapes

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The northern part of the Chobe Enclave (an administrative district of northern Botswana) is an agricultural area situated between relatively pristine national parks situated in the Middle Kalahari Basin. It belongs to the Linyanti-Chobe structural basin and constitutes a syntectonic depocenter formed within a large structural depression, known as the Okavango Graben, a tectonic structure of a likely trans-tensional nature. The landscape includes fossil landforms, such as sand dunes, pans, sand ridges, and carbonate islands resulting from palaeo-environmental and palaeo-drainage changes through the Quaternary and associated to (neo)tectonic processes. In addition to riverand wind-reworked Kalahari sands, the sediments include diatomites and carbonate deposits, forming inverted reliefs and originating from palustrine palaeo-environments. The Linyanti-Chobe basin is at the convergence of several ecoregions from tropical and subtropical grasslands to savannas and shrubland biomes. The hydrological cycle in the northern Chobe Enclave is governed by a complex interplay between the Okavango, Kwando, and Upper Zambezi drainage basins, which originate from tropical watersheds of the Angolan highlands. Finally, the widespread development of termite mounds impacts the diversity of soils and sediments of the northern Chobe Enclave, which is also reflected in the vegetation.

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Ecology, fish and fishery of Lake Liambezi, a recently refilled floodplain lake in the Zambezi Region, Namibia

Cited by 9 publications

References 10 publications

Species succession and the development of a lacustrine fish community in an ephemeral lake

Species succession and the development of a lacustrine fish community in an ephemeral lake

A general model of temporary aquatic habitat use: Water phenology as a life history filter

Landscapes and Landforms of the Chobe Enclave, Northern Botswana

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