Skip to main content

The Abundance, Distribution and Diversity of Benthic Invertebrates of Lake Malombe | Chapter 04 | Advances in Agriculture and Fisheries Research Vol. 1


The benthic zone of Lake Malombe was sampled for invertebrates, fungi and bacteria using an Ekman Grab measuring 15.2 cm by 15.2 cm. Thirty-six stations were surveyed for macro-invertebrates which were identified to the lowest taxa and enumerated to estimate abundance for the lake. The biomass of macro-fauna is being reported here for the first time and coincides with a decline in fish catches on Lake Malombe. Snails were the most dominant macro fauna, belonging to four genera Melanoides, Bellamya, Bulinus and Lanistes with the mean densities of 177.5, 34.7 and 4.3 and 0.1 m-2 individuals, respectively. Blood worms and Tubifex were also present. Although there are few such studies in Malawi, it was generally postulated that dominance of snails is a recent phenomenon following previous studies which showed the invasion of a form of Melanoides of Asian origin; its success might be responsible for its proliferation. The benthic substrate was mainly composed of mud, clay granules, sand and bedrock. The prevalence of Melanoides species and other high pollution tolerance species suggests that there is high ecosystem modification due to anthropogenic activities including sediment and nutrient loading from agricultural practices in the surrounding area. Compared to Lake Malawi and Upper Shire, Lake Malombe is by far the most productive. There were significantly higher (P<0.5) densities of aerobic, anaerobic bacteria and fungi, demonstrating the importance of the detrital food chain. Therefore, future programs aimed at enhancing fish restoration in Lake Malombe would be advised to include a suite of bottom feeding fish species. The state of benthos found in Lake Malombe is an indication of confounding impacts of over-fishing, climate change and catchment-wide activities. Thus, use of QIIME software could unravel microbiome characteristics, including climate change signatures. Similarly, further studies on food webs could contribute to a better understanding of the Lake Malombe trophic functions.

Author(s) Details


Dr. Orton V. Msiska [Ph.D.]
Fisheries Consultant, P.O. Box 833, Mzuzu, Malawi.

James Banda
Fisheries Research Unit, P.O. Box 27, Monkey-Bay, Malawi.

Barnett Kaphuka
Fisheries Research Unit, P.O. Box 27, Monkey-Bay, Malawi.


View Volume: http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/138

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Prospective Study about Safety and Efficacy of Perioperative Lidocaine Infusion | Chapter 09 | New Horizons in Medicine and Medical Research Vol. 8

 Opioids cause clinically significant side effects such as respiratory depression, immunosuppression, muscle rigidity, negative inotropism, nausea, vomiting, hyperalgesia, urine retention, postoperative ileus, and drowsiness. Perioperative opioids are a major contributor to the United States' and other countries' opioid epidemics. Non-opioid analgesics, particularly lidocaine, are becoming more common for perioperative use as a result of this. A total of 185 adult patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: control group I (105 patients) [fentanyl group] or group ii (80 patients) [opioid-free anaesthesia group]. Lidocaine 1.5 mg/kg bolus followed by 1.5 mg/kg/h infusion intraoperatively, and 1.5-2 mg/kg/h infusion for 2-8 hours postoperatively were given to patients in both groups at anaesthetic induction. Intraoperatively, both groups received analgesic adjuvants such as diclofenac 75 mg, paracetamol 1 gm, and mgso4 30-50 mg/kg. If the mean arterial pressure (map)
Post a Comment
Read more

A Brief Study of Middleware Technologies: Programming Applications and Management Systems | Chapter 15 | Novel Research Aspects in Mathematical and Computer Science Vol. 1

  Many platforms, services, applications, hardware, and operating systems are connected through the middleware layer. Because the middleware layer abstracts much low-level complexity and makes applications and software systems portable, it allows disparate systems to interface and function together in harmony. Middleware technologies enable software engineers to swiftly construct software systems and applications, allowing developers to focus on more important tasks. This chapter examines several types of middleware systems and discusses middleware capabilities, middleware operation, middleware's function in cloud-based systems, and the best middleware platforms to use. Middleware systems are widely utilised and can be found in practically any software system or application. Middleware programmes provide as a link between many sorts of systems and protocols. They serve as a mechanism for various systems. To successfully exchange information, it runs on a variety of operating system
Post a Comment
Read more

Patients’ Perspective of Acute Post-operative Pain Management: A Multicentre Survey of Tertiary Hospitals in Maharashtra, India | Chapter 08 | New Horizons in Medicine and Medical Research Vol. 8

 When postoperative pain is adequately controlled, patients' satisfaction and patient-related outcomes (PROs) increase. Understanding the patients' perspective is crucial since it supports in the formulation of improvement strategies. Because wrong attitudes and assumptions might block pain alleviation, patients' attitudes and beliefs are critical. As a result, a multicenter study of patients' attitudes, beliefs, experiences, and satisfaction levels with acute postoperative pain management was done in Maharashtra's tertiary hospitals. In addition, the responses were examined to evaluate if the Acute Pain Service (APS) resulted in improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. A 13-item questionnaire adapted from previous studies was used to capture patients' experiences with postoperative pain treatment. The responses of 179 patients are included in the study. The findings revealed that 91.6 percent of patients experienced postoperative pain, with 75.5 percent
Post a Comment
Read more