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During the course of 2009 to 2011, Nina Woods, a Masters student from Griffith University, Australia, will be working in collarboration with Mogalakwena Research Centre and Venda University to undertake a project on the ecology of the Mogalakwena River. The project will be focussing on the influence of flow connectivity on aquatic ecosystem integrity.
Nina is undertaking a temporal study of benthic macroinvertebrate and diatom assemblage composition in response to the varying flow regime of the Mogalakwena River. The Mogalakwena River is a typical ephemeral river, occurring in semi-arid savannah with seasonal flow. In ephemeral systems, natural disturbances such as drought and floods result in unique functions of community vigour, resilience and organisation. For example, as surface water disconnects, selective pressures such as temperature, chemistry, resource availability and predation influences the ability of aquatic species to persist, altering community composition.
Unfortunately very little is known about the patterns of vigour, resilience and organisation of aquatic communities inhabiting ephemeral river systems, or even if there is any pattern to their existence at all! The aim of this project to regularly record the changes of macroinvertebrate and diatom community assemblage in response to different states of flow connectivity to identify and understand these patterns. It is anticipated that this information will ultimately improve the understanding and assumptions regarding the ecological health and integrity of ephemeral river systems, and aid in providing baseline information about the ecology and health of the Mogalakwena River.
© 2010 by Mogalakwena Group