Species Richness in Lake Victoria

Until very recent, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, in East Africa, Lake Victoria, was the home of approximately 400 kinds of cichlids. Cichlids are fishes that are colorful. The species of cichlid that was in Lake Victoria had very different eating habits. Some nibbled on algae; others eat organic material that was dead at the deepest part of the lake; while others ate the insects, shrimp, and all the species of cichlids.

These Cichlids blossomed all through the lake ecosystem and supplied protein to feed over 30 million people living in the area. Presently, the aquatic community in Lake Victoria has changed from 50 years ago. Native fish species and more than half of the cichlids are no longer in existence. More than half of the cichlids and other native fish species are now extinct. Because of the vanishing of most of the cichlids that eat algae, the population of algal has increased tremendously. When these algae pass on, their putrefaction uses up the disintegrated oxygen in the water. The area at the bottom of the lake, which was once filled with cichlids, is now empty because the dissolved oxygen is not enough. When any fish attempted to venture into the zone oxygen-free they are unable to breath and die (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. 83). During the time when the population of the cichlid population declined, the growth of the algae increased tremendously further exhausting the level of oxygen in the water. Some other factors that affected Lake Victoria are the pollutants that are caused by humans such as sewage that were untreated, waste than ran into the lake, and the effects of agriculture. The total of all these activities by humans combined have crushed Lake Victoria’s sensitive ecosystem (American University, 2009). Fishermen, who use to catch hundreds different types of fishes to eat, are now only able to catch only a few types.

A major provider to the ecological balance of Lake Victoria’s was the intentional initiation of the Nile perch. The Nile perch is a large and ravenous killer, into the lake. Advocates of the introduction thought the flourishing institution of the Nile perch would help the local economy and incite the fishermen. As the population of the Nile perch slowly got larger, the effect that the Nile perch had on the lake was not appreciated. During the late 1980’s the fishermen realized that what they were catching was more Nile perch and less native fishes. When the year 1985 came along, most of the catch that the fisherman caught was Nile perch. The Nile perch population was exploding because they had the cichlids as their large food supply. Some factors that contributed to the disappearance of the cichlid were the pollution caused by humans. The tree in the forest that was nearby Lake Victoria was cut down to be used as firewood to dry the Nile perch (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. 83).

The soil erosion from cutting down the trees caused Lake Victoria water to become very cloudy. The local Agriculture labor in the area of Lake Victoria, added fertilizer along with toxic waste from the erosion of soil, both of these pollutants combined made the cloudiness of the water rise. Moreover, the initiation of the Nile perch along with all the changes in the environment severely changed delicateness of a balanced system. By the 2000s biologist noticed that the population of the Nile perch was declining because fishermen was taking large quantities from the Lake. Most of the cichlid that was destroyed by the Nile perch was recovered. The recovery of the cichlids is good news for the existence of the cichlids however; it’s bad news for the natives who have become dependent on the Nile perch as a mean for their way of living. Presently, Biologist are actively trying to find ways to maintain a fair amount of fishing level for the need of Nile perch that not only will be enough to help with the livelihood of the fishermen. Ultimately, biologist goal is to maintain the cichlid species richness and availability (Raven, Berg, & Hassenzahl, 2010, p. 83).

Good implementation of the scientific method prevents biases through strict scrutiny of information. This could have stopped the near disastrous result of the activity of human in Lake Victoria. The scientific method would probably have aided the nearby communities close to the lake to find the problems and work towards a solution that was based on hypothesis, data, and testing. The use of the scientific method would have been really helpful in the process of the introduction of predators like the Nile perch species to the ecosystem of Lake Victoria. The scientific method would have been a great help to thoroughly analyze, and figure out both the pros and cons of introducing the Nile perch to Lake Victoria.

In Conclusion, the existence of the cichlid is one that has Lake Victoria has struggled to maintain. Lake Victoria has been through a number of important and shocking changes in the last 10 years. Some of these changes which include the depletion of oxygen and too much fishing add to the non extinct of native cichlid fish species. The large amounts of algae and infestation of the water hyacinth have been a major threat to the Lake Victoria delicate ecology. The consequences of these actions are for the most part not repairable without and environmental management that is effective. In an effort to have a fishing level that is worth preserving it is critical that there be a balance between the human well being and the Lake Victoria perseverance.

References

American University. (2009). TED Case Studies: Lake Victoria. Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/ted/victoria.htm

Raven, P. H., Berg, L. R., & Hassenzahl, D. M. (2010). Ecosystems and Living Organisms. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-Text].: John Wiley & Sons Inc..Retrieved form, SCI-362- Environmental Ethics website.