Abstract
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened on Earth, facing environmental and anthropogenic pressures often surpassing their terrestrial counterparts. Land use and land cover change (LUCC) such as degradation and fragmentation of the terrestrial landscape negatively impacts aquatic ecosystems. Satellite imagery allows for an impartial assessment of the past to determine habitat alterations. It can also be used as a forecasting tool in the development of species conservation strategies through models based on ecological factors extracted from imagery. In this study, we analyze Landsat time sequences (1984–2015) to quantify LUCC around three freshwater ecosystems with endemic cichlids in Tanzania. In addition, we examine population growth, agricultural expansion, and climate change as stressors that impact the habitats. We found that the natural vegetation cover surrounding Lake Chala decreased from 15.5% (1984) to 3.5% (2015). At Chemka Springs, we observed a decrease from 7.4% to 3.5% over the same period. While Lake Natron had minimal LUCC, severe climate change impacts have been forecasted for the region. Subsurface water data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite observations further show a decrease in water resources for the study areas, which could be exacerbated by increased need from a growing population and an increase in agricultural land use.
Highlights
Freshwater aquatic ecosystems are under increasing threat from human activity and climate change
While Lake Natron had minimal LUCC, severe climate change impacts have been forecasted for the region
(2015), we found a steep reduction in the number of bushland fragments to 62 indicating that only a few fragments are left in the landscape around the lake
Summary
Freshwater aquatic ecosystems are under increasing threat from human activity and climate change. They are among the most heavily altered ecosystems with disproportionately high biodiversity loss worldwide [1,2]. Major systematic drivers of aquatic species loss include land cover and land use change (LUCC), overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change [3,4,5,6,7,8]. Aquatic ecosystems are vulnerable because they receive the cumulative effects of stressors within the watershed. Reconstruction of a region’s LUCC history can be used to determine the potential stressors that have impacted or degraded habitats over time and thereby can enhance current and future management [10]. Land burning as the primary cause of eutrophication in Lake
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