Effects of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Activities on Algivorous Cichlid Fish in Lake Tanganyika

Abstract

Over the last century, water temperatures in Lake Tanganyika have risen due to climate change, which increased thermal stratification and reduced the magnitude of nutrient availability. A rise in temperature increases the C:N:P ratio resulting in a poor algal diet. In addition, lake littoral habitat is experiencing increased sediment load due to deforestation of the watershed caused by anthropogenic activities. Sediments cover benthic algae and reduce its nutritional value, consequently affecting the foraging behavior, distribution, and growth performance of algivorous fish. Algae and algivorous fish are an important link in the lake food chain; therefore, if the rise in temperature will continue as predicted, then this may have a cascading effect for the rest of the community in the food chain including human being. This, in turn, may contribute to food insecurity at local and regional levels. To counteract this adaptation and mitigation measures such as environmental monitoring systems and creating new opportunities should be considered.

Perceptions and attitudes towards climate change in fishing communities of the Sudd Wetlands, South Sudan

“…In coastal ecosystems, interactions between climate change and local human impacts are not only decimating and destroying a variety of coastal ecosystems, but are also forcing shifts of human settlements, including the proposed relocation of the Indonesian capital (He and Silliman 2019 ). In freshwater ecosystems, reduced productivity has also been linked to elevated late twentieth century atmospheric temperatures, as evidenced in the declining productivity of Lake Tanganyika (O’Reilly et al 2003 ; Munubi and Lamtane 2021 ) and Lake Malawi (Makwinja and M’balaka 2017 ), both in East Africa. Climate change impacts on marine and freshwater fisheries, studied in 72 national economies, are potentially likely to be substantial in two South American countries, four tropical Asian countries, and Central and Western Africa (Allison et al 2009 ).…”