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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Stability of Mbuna Species Populations in Lake Malawi
Author(s)
Lucious G. Kanyumba, Wisdom J. Changadeya, Aggrey J.D. Ambali, Leonard A. Kamwanja and Emmanuel K.W. Kaunda
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DOI:10.17265/2162-5263/2012.04.013
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ABSTRACT
The first comprehensive
study of abundance, richness and distribution of Mbuna in Lake
Malawi was carried out in the 1980s. The present study examined
changes of species richness and abundance of Mbuna with time. Most sites
demarcated during the 1980s survey were explored in order to determine changes
in abundance and composition of Mbuna over a period of more than 20 years.
Chi-square analysis revealed significant difference (p < 0.05) in abundance of
Mbuna between 1983 and 2005 with the exception of Chinyankhwazi and Chinyamwezi
where the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). Cluster
analysis showed changes in species composition between 1983 and2005 invarious sites. Generally, there were
more species lost in a given area than new species observed in 2005. Decline in
Mbuna species richness might have been caused by siltation, harvesting of Mbuna
for food and ornamental fish trade while new species were mostly introduced
through translocation from one part of the lake to another.
KEYWORDS
Mbuna, species abundance, species richness, translocation.
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