Assessment of the Ecological Status and Threats of Welala and Shesher Wetlands, Lake Tana Sub-Basin (Ethiopia)英文文献资料.docVIP

Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2011, 3, 540-547 doi:10.4236/jwarp.2011.37064 Published Online July 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jwarp) Assessment of the Ecological Status and Threats of Welala and Shesher Wetlands, Lake Tana Sub-Basin (Ethiopia) Negash Atnafu , Eshete Dejen , Jacobus Vijverberg 1 2 3 1 Amhara Tourism and Culture Bureau, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia Food and Agricultural Organization, Subregional Office for Eastern Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands 2 3 E-mail: negashatinafu@, Eshete.Dejen@, dejeneshete@, j.vijverberg@nioo.knaw.nl Received April 27, 2011; revised May 29, 2011; accepted July 2, 2011 Abstract The ecological status of the Welala and Shesher Wetlands, on the eastern side of Lake Tana, were studied during pre-rainy, main-rainy, post-rainy and dry seasons from May 2009 to January 2010. Species composi- tion, diversity and abundance of macrophytes, benthic macro-invertebrates and birds were assessed and phy- sico-chemical parameters were measured. Phosphate and silicate concentrations, conductivity, TDS and tur- bidity varied significantly (p 0.05) between dry and wet seasons in both wetlands. Physico-chemical para- meters did not differ (p 0.05) between the two wetlands. The values for dissolved oxygen and pH ranged between 4.8 - 7.8 mg/l and 6.7 - 7.6, respectively. The values for nitrate and phosphate ranged between 0.2 - 3.1 mg/l and 0.2 - 3.3 mg/l, respectively. A total of 274 benthic macro-invertebrate individuals belonging to 5 families were collected, 32, 699 individual birds belonging to 62 species were enumerated and 13 species of macrophytes were identified. The two wetlands are shrinking at an alarming rate, mainly because of un- sustainable farming practices and a huge irrigation project on Ribb River which is at presen