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Aspects of the ecology of benthic fauna in Lake McIlwaine, Rhodesia
Author(s) -
MARSHALL B. E.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
freshwater biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2427
pISSN - 0046-5070
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2427.1978.tb01445.x
Subject(s) - profundal zone , eutrophication , benthic zone , ecology , fauna , littoral zone , chironomus , chironomidae , water level , environmental science , population , trophic state index , biology , geography , larva , demography , cartography , sociology , nutrient
SUMMARY. An investigation into the ecology of benthic fauna in the eutrophic Lake McIlwaine (Rhodesia) was carried out in 1968–69. The profundal zone was only colonized in winter when the lake was isothermal and oxygen was present. The littoral zone was greatly affected by lake level fluctuation during the study period, and the population of lamellibranchs was destroyed by a drop in water level. While the water level was low, numbers of oligochaetes were high, but they declined as the water level rose. Chironomid larvae colonized the newly‐flooded land and their numbers increased considerably. The effects of eutrophication were less clear but it is suggested that the presence of Chironomus in the profundal in winter, and an increase in Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri , was linked with eutrophication.