Abstract
Urbanization and human settlement in close proximity to the Ethiopian lakes are among the potential causes of changes in water quality and quantity. The drastic changes occurred into one of the Bishoftu crater lakes (Kilole) best exemplify this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was ecological assessment of Lake Hora using benthic and weed-bed fauna. Samples of benthic and weed-bed were collected monthly from September 2009 to March 2010 at 3 sampling stations (A, B, C), with a standard Ekman grab. Station A is in front of Ras Hotel, Station B is place of Irecha and station C was to the south crater of the lake. The benthic and weed-bed fauna of Lake Hora included a total of 6958 individuals within 27 taxa belonging principally to Copepod (2812) and Chironomidae (1460) and Ecdyonuridae (735). A high number of organisms were observed mainly at stations B and A (3198 and 2342respectively). The correlation result indicates that oxygen showed strong relation to benthic and weed bed fauna distribution and abundance. There were high number of individuals, taxa diversity, evenness and grate number of rare taxa of benthic and weed-bed fauna at stations A and B, but these stations were affected by the community around the lake area for different reasons (for example washing clothes, boat parking and others).However low density and abundance of macroinvertabrates at station C could be due to: low organic matter load at station C which was free of human interactions; steeply slope geographical setting of the profoundly and its catchment and low vegetation cover. The Family Biotic Index result for all the sampling stations was 7.55, according to Hilsenhoff Family Biotic Index this value is indicating likely severe organic pollution and very poor water quality in all sampling sites. As this research finding indicates Lake Hora needs protection management strategies to maintain its sustainable use. Keywords : Benthic Fauna, Ethiopia, Lake Hora, Specimens, Weed-bed
Highlights
Urbanization and human settlement in close proximity to the Ethiopian lakes are among the potential causes of changes in water quality and quantity
Distribution of Benthic and Weed-bed Fauna in Relation to Stations’ Water Depth and Sediments Benthic and weed-bed fauna of Lake Hora included a total of 6958 specimens within 27 taxa belonging principally to Copepod (2812), Chironomidae (1460) and Ecdyonuridae (735)
A high number of organisms were observed mainly at stations B and A (3198 and 2342respectively) and lower taxa numbers were observed at station C (1419)
Summary
Urbanization and human settlement in close proximity to the Ethiopian lakes are among the potential causes of changes in water quality and quantity. In Ethiopia Baye Sitotaw (2006) has done research on the Assessment of Benthic-Macroinvertabrate structure in relation to Environmental Degradation in some Ethiopian Rivers. Some studies have been conducted on the lakes of Ethiopia, for example; Tilahun Kibret and Harrison (1989) assessed Lake Awasa using benthic and weed-bed fauna. No study was done in crater lakes of Ethiopia using macroinvertabrates as an assessment method. The purpose of this project was, to do ecological assessment of Lake Hora using benthic and weed-bed fauna. General objective of this study was to assess ecological quality of Lake Hora using the distribution, composition and abundance of benthic fauna in relation to the type of bottom sediment organic pollution and vegetation. Specific Objectives of this project were to determine the relations of benthic and weed bed fauna to the physico-chemical limnology of the lake; to assess the distribution of benthic fauna in relation to aquatic macrophytes, sediment texture and total organic matter; assess ecological integrity of the lake using Hilsenhoff Family Biotic Index (H-FBI) and diversity indices
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