Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Possible effects of global climate change on the ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika

  • Primary Research Paper
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Any change in the air temperature, wind speed, precipitation, and incoming solar radiation induced by increasing greenhouse gasses and climate change will directly influence lakes and other water bodies. The influence can cause changes in the physical (water temperature, stratification, transparency), chemical (nutrient loading, oxygen) and biological (structure and functioning of the ecosystem) components of the Lake. In this work an influence of the likely effects of the climate change on the above three components of Lake Tanganyika are studied by means of a simple ecological model. Simulations for the years 2002–2009 have been performed using the wind and solar radiation data from the National Centres for Environmental Protection (NCEP) reanalysis. Various possible climatic scenarios are studied by changing the surface layer depth, its temperature and the wind stress. Any change in any of the above physical forcing parameters modifies the timing and intensity of the dry season peaks of the biogeochemical parameters. It is seen that the gross production increases as temperature of the surface layer increases and its depth decreases. High temperature and low wind stress, reduces the biomass. The effects of a slight increase in lake water temperature on the Lake Tanganyika ecosystem might be mitigated by increased windiness, if the latter was sufficient to induce greater mixing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adrian, R., C. M. O’Reilly, H. Zagarese, S. B. Baines, D. O. Hessen, W. Keller, D. M. Livingstone, R. Sommaruga, D. Straile, E. V. Donk, G. A. Weyhenmeyer & M. Winder, 2009. Lakes as sentinels of climate change. Limnology and Oceanography 54: 2283–2297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alin, S. R., A. S. Cohen, R. Bills, M. M. Gashagaza, E. Michel, J.-J. Tiercelin, K. Martens, P. Coveliers, S. K. Mboko, K. West, M. Soreghan, S. Kimbadi & G. Ntakimazi, 1999. Effects of landscape disturbance on animal communities in Lake Tanganyika. Conservation Biology 13: 1017–1033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchamp, R. S. A., 1939. Hydrology of Lake Tanganyika. Journal of Ecology 41: 226–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caljon, A. G., 1992. Water quality in the Bay of Bujumbura (Lake Tanganyika) and its influence on phytoplankton composition. Mitteilungen Internationale Vereingung für Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie 23: 55–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, S. R., et al., 2007. Understanding regional change: a comparison of two lake districts. Bioscience 57: 323–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. S., R. Bills, C. Z. Cocquyt & A. G. Caljon, 1993. The impact of sediment pollution on biodiversity in Lake Tanganyika. Conservation Biology 7: 667–677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coulter, G. W., 1991. Lake Tanganyika and Its Life. Oxford University Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulter, G. W. & R. H. Spigel, 1991. Hydrodynamics. In Coulter, G. W. (ed.), Lake Tanganyika and Its Life. Oxford University Press, London: 49–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Stasio, B. Jr., D. K. Hill, J. M. Kleinhans, N. P. Nibbelink & J. J. Magnuson, 1996. Potential effects of global climate change on small north-temperate lakes: physics, fish and plankton. Limnology and Oceanography 41: 1136–1149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmond, J. M., R. F. Stallard, H. Craig, V. Craig, R. F. Weiss & G. W. Coulter, 1993. Nutrient chemistry of the water column of Lake Tanganyika. Limnology and Oceanography 38: 725–738.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fee, E. J., 1979. A relation between lake morphometry and primary production and its use in interpreting whole-lake eutrophication experiments. Limnology and Oceanography 21: 767–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fee, E. J., J. A. Shearer, E. R. DeBruyn & E. U. Schindler, 1992. Effects of lake size on phytoplankton photosynthesis. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Acquatic Sciences 49: 2445–2459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fee, E. J., R. E. Hecky, S. E. M. Kasian & D. R. Cruikshank, 1996. Effects of lake size, water clarity, and climatic variability on mixing depths in Canadian Shield lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 41: 912–920.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hecky, R. E. & E. J. Fee, 1981. Primary production and rates of algal growth in Lake Tanganyika. Limnology and Oceanography 26: 532–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hecky, R. E. & J. Kling, 1981. The phytoplankton and zooplankton of the euphotic zone of Lake Tanganyika: species composition, biomass, chlorophyll content and spatio-temporal distribution. Limnology and Oceanography 26: 548–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hecky, R. E. & H. Kling, 1987. Phytoplankton ecology of the great lakes in the rift valley of central Africa. Archiv für Hydrobiologie Beiheft Ergebnisse der Limnologie 25: 197–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecky, R. E., R. H. Spigel & G. W. Coulter, 1991. Nutrient regime. In Coulter, G. W. (ed.), Lake Tanganyika and Its Life. Oxford University Press, London: 76–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hondzo, M. & H. G. Stefan, 1991. Three case studies of lake temperature and stratification response to warmer climate. Water Resources Research 27: 1837–1846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hondzo, M. & H. G. Stefan, 1993. Regional water temperature characteristics of lakes subjected to climate change. Climate Change 24: 187–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izmest’eva, L. R. & E. A. Silow, 2008. Global Climate Change and the Lake Baikal Plankton. Baikal Workshop, 1–5 August.

  • Järvinen, M., K. Salonen, J. Sarvala, K. Vuorio & A. Virtanen, 1999. The stoichiometry of particulate nutrients in Lake Tanganyika–implications for nutrient limitation of phytoplankton. Hydrobiologia 407: 81–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgensen, E., G. Nitakimzi & S. Kayombo, 2006. Lake Tanganyika Experience and Lessons Learned Brief. World Lake Database. International Lake Environment Committee Foundation (ILEC), Kusatsu-shi: 363–374.

  • Kamenya, S. M., J. Goodall, E. Mtiti & Ndimuligo, S., 2008. We cannot let it go: conservation efforts in Albertine Rift in Western Tanzania. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Congress for Conservation Biology, Convention Center, Chattanooga, Tanzania.

  • King, J. R., B. Shuter & P. Zimmerman, 1997. The response of the thermal stratification of South Bay (Lake Huron) to climatic variability. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54: 1873–1882.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, J. R., B. Shuter & P. Zimmerman, 1999. Signals of climate trends and extreme events in the thermal stratification pattern of multibasin lake Opeongo, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 56: 847–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langenberg, V. T., 1996. The physical limnology of lake Tanganyika, August–December 1995. FAO/FINNIDA Research for the Management of Fisheries on Lake Tanganyika. GCP/RAF/271/FIN-TD/54: 63 pp.

  • Langenberg, V. T., J. Sarvala & R. Roijackers, 2003. Effect of wind induced water movements on nutrients, chlorophyll-a, and primary production in Lake Tanganyika. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 6(3): 279–288.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, D. A., 2003. Global climate change strikes a tropical lake. Science 25: 468–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magnuson, J. J., K. E. Webster, R. A. Assel, C. J. Bowser, P. J. Dillon, J. G. Eaton, H. E. Evans, D. J. Fee, R. I. Hall, L. R. Mortsch, D. W. Schindler, & F. H. Quinn, 1997. Potential effects of climate change on aquatic systems: Laurentian great lakes and Precambrian shield region: 7–53. In Cushing, C. E. (ed.), Freshwater Ecosystems and Climate Change in North America: A Regional Assessment. Advances in Hydrological Processes. Wiley, New York: 262 pp.

  • Moore, M. V., S. E. Hampton, L. R. Izmest’eva, E. A. Silow, E. V. Peshkova & B. K. Pavlov, 2009. Climate change and the world’s “Sacred Sea”-Lake Baikal, Siberia. BioScience 59: 405–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortsch, L. D. & F. H. Quinn, 1996. Climate change scenarios for Great Lakes Basin ecosystem studies. Limnology and Oceanography 41: 903–911.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naithani, J., E. Deleersnijder & P-.D. Plisnier, 2002. Origin of intraseasonal variability in Lake Tanganyika. Geophysical Research Letters, 29. doi:10.1029/2002GL015843.

  • Naithani, J., E. Deleersnijder & P.-D. Plisnier, 2003. Analysis of wind-induced thermocline oscillations of Lake Tanganyika. Environmental Fluid Mechanics 3: 23–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naithani, J., F. Darchambeau, E. Deleersnijder, J.-P. Descy & E. Wolanski, 2007a. Study of the nutrient and plankton dynamics in Lake Tanganyika using a reduced-gravity model. Ecological Modelling 200: 225–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naithani, J., P.-D. Plisnier & E. Deleersnijder, 2007b. A simple model of the eco-hydrodynamics of the epilimnion of Lake Tanganyika. Freshwater Biology 52: 2087–2100.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • NCEP (National Centres for Environmental Protection). The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis project [available on internet at http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/cdc/reanalysis/reanalysis.shtml].

  • O’Reilly, C. M., S. R. Alin, P.-D. Plisnier, A. S. Cohen & B. A. McKee, 2003. Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Nature 424: 766–768.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ogutu-Ohwayo, R., R. E. Hecky, A. S. Cohen & L. Kaufman, 1997. Human impacts on the African Great Lakes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 50: 117–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pham, S. V., P. R. Leavitt, S. McGowan & P. Peres-Nato, 2008. Spatial variability of climate and land-use effects on lakes of the northern Great Plains. Limnology and Oceanography 53: 728–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plisnier, P.-D. & E. C. Coenen, 2001. Pulsed and dampened annual limnological fluctuations in Lake Tanganyika. In Munawar, M. & R. Hecky (eds), The Great Lakes of the World (GLOW): Food-web, Health and Integrity. Ecovision World Monograph Series, Leiden, The Netherlands: 81–94.

  • Plisnier, P. D. & J.-P. Descy, 2005. Climlake: Climate Variability as Recorded in Lake Tanganyika. Final Report (2001–2005). FSPO-Global Change, Ecosystems and Biodiversity: 105 pp.

  • Plisnier, P. D., V. Langenberg, L. Mwape, D. Chitamwebwa, K. Tshibangu & E. J. Coenen, 1996. Limnological Sampling During an Annual Cycle at Three Stations on Lake Tanganyika (1993–1994). FAO/FINNIDA Research for the Management of the Fisheries on Lake Tanganyika. GCP/RAF/271/FIN-TD/46 (En): 124 pp.

  • Plisnier, P.-D., D. Chitamwebwa, L. Mwape, K. Tshibangu, V. Langenberg & E. Coenen, 1999. Limnological annual cycle inferred from physical-chemical fluctuations at three stations of Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 407: 45–58.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. F., 1979. On the scaling of stress-driven entrainment experiments. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 90: 509–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, J. E. & H. Molsa, 2000. Lake Tanganyika Regional Fisheries Programme (TREFIP). Environment Impact Assessment Report. FAO, Rome: 24.

  • Sarvala, J., V. T. Langenberg, K. Salonen, D. Chitamwebwa, G. W. Coulter, T. Huttula, R. Kanyaru, P. Kotilainen, L. Makasa, N. Mulimbwa & H. Mölsä, 2006. Fish catches from Lake Tanganyika mainly reflect changes in fishery practices, not climate. Verhandlungen des Internationalen Verein Limnologie 29: 1182–1188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schep, S. A., G. N. J. Ter Heerdt, J. H. Janse & M. Ouboter, 2007. Possible effects of climate change on ecological functioning of shallow lakes, Lake Loenderveen as a case study. Annals of Warsaw University of Life Science-SGGW, Land Reclamation 38: 95–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler, D. W., K. G. Beaty, E. J. Fee, D. R. Cruikshank, E. R. DeBruyn, D. L. Findlay, G. A. Linsey, J. A. Shearer, M. P. Stainton & M. A. Turner, 1990. Effects of climatic warming on the lakes of the central boreal forest. Science 250: 967–969.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler, D. W., E. B. Suzanne, B. R. Parker, K. G. Beaty, D. R. Cruikshank, E. J. Fee, E. U. Schindler & M. P. Stainton, 1996. The effects of climatic warming on the properties of boreal lakes and streams at the experimental lakes area, northwestern Ontario. Limnology and Oceanography 41: 1004–1017.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smol, J. P. & M. S. V. Douglas, 2007. From controversy to consensus: making the case for recent climate change in the Arctic using lake sediments. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5: 466–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stefan, H. G., M. Hondzo & X. Fang, 1993. Lake water quality modelling for projected future climate scenarios. J Environ Qual 22: 417–431.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stenuite, S., S. Pirlot, M.-A. Hardy, H. Sarmento, A.-L. Tarbe, B. Leporcq & J.-P. Descy, 2007. Phytoplankton production and growth rate in Lake Tanganyika: evidence of a decline in primary productivity in recent years. Freshwater Biology 52: 2226–2239.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tierney, J. E., M. T. Mayes, N. Meyer, C. Johnson, P. W. Swarzenski, A. S. Cohen & J. M. Russell, 2010. Late-twentieth-century warming in Lake Tanganyika unprecedented since AD 500. Nature Geoscience. doi:10.1038/ngeo865.

  • UNDP/GEF, 2008. Partnership Interventions for the Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for Lake Tanganyika. Governments of Burundi, D.R.Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. Project Document: Part One UNOPS Components: 90 pp.

  • Verburg, P. & R. E. Hecky, 2009. The physics of warming of Lake Tanganyika by climate change. Limnology and Oceanography 54: 2418–2430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verburg, P., R. E. Hecky & H. Kling, 2003. Ecological consequences of a century of warming in Lake Tanganyika. Science 301: 505–507.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vollmer, M. K., H. A. Bootsma, R. E. Hecky, G. Patterson, J. D. Halfman, J. M. Edmond, D. H. Eccles & R. F. Weiss, 2005. Deep-water warming trend in Lake Malawi, East Africa. Limnology and Oceanography 50: 727–732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel, R. G., 1983. Limnology, 2nd ed. CBS College Publishing, New York: 767 pp.

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is based on the previous research projects funded by the Belgian Science Policy: ‘Climate Variability as Recorded by Lake Tanganyika’, CLIMLAKE, and ‘Climate change impact on the sustainable use of Lake Tanganyika fisheries’: CLIMFISH (STEREO) with the help of the Belgian Cooperation (DGCD) within the framework agreement with the Royal Museum for Central Africa (MRAC), Tervuren, Belgium. Part of this work was achieved in the framework of the CHOLTIC project, funded by the Belgian Science Policy office (BELSPO) under contract SD/AR/04a. Thanks are due to Prof. Yves Cornet of the University of Liege, Liege, Belgium. Eric Deleersnijder is a Research Associate with the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (iMMC), Avenue Georges Lemaître 4, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Jaya Naithani & Eric Deleersnijder

  2. G. Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research (TECLIM), Université catholique de Louvain, Chemin du Cyclotron 2, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Jaya Naithani

  3. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg, 13, 3080, Tervuren, Belgium

    Pierre-Denis Plisnier

  4. Earth and Life Institute (ELI), G. Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research (TECLIM), Université catholique de Louvain, Chemin du Cyclotron 2, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Eric Deleersnijder

Authors
  1. Jaya Naithani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pierre-Denis Plisnier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eric Deleersnijder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jaya Naithani.

Additional information

Handling editor: Koen Martens

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Naithani, J., Plisnier, PD. & Deleersnijder, E. Possible effects of global climate change on the ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 671, 147–163 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0713-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0713-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation