The African Great Lakes
Case Study: An ecosystem under great stress: 

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria has been experiencing a major and irreversible ecological transformation since the 1950s. The lake, indeed the largest fresh water lake in Africa, is now in a state of rapid flux and its fisheries are under increasing economic pressure. The introduction of the Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) in 1959 has contributed to the irreversible ecological change of the lake. It has also generated new social and economic activities, some of which are putting additional pressure on the already fragile ecosystem. 

1. Introduction
2. The Biology of Lake Victoria
3. The Historical Context of the Ecosystem Changes
4. Water Quality of Lake Victoria
5. Fisheries on Lake Victoria
6. Economics of the Lake Victoria Fishery:
7. Conservation of Lake Victoria
8. Recent advances in our understanding of events at Lake Victoria due to modern research
9. Conclusions

Extra Reading (see also - panel to left)

There is a particularly good paper which brings everything upto date (as much as it ever can be in a constantly changing world) summary of the background and issues involved in Balirwa et al 2003 in BioScience which is available via the electronic journal resources of the Univ Library

Goldscmidt, T., Witte, F., & Wanink, J. 1993 Cascading effects of the introduced Nile Perch on the detritiviorous / phytoplanktivorous species in the sublittoral areas of Lake Victoria. Cons. Biol. 7: 686-700

For more detailed list of references on Lake Victoria see after : Conclusions

Page Author: Dr Rick T Leah, Univ of L'pool - Contents last reviewed15/12/2005