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The distribution of phytoplankton in some Central East African waters

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Summary

Observations of the distribution of phytoplankton were made in Pilkington Bay, Lake Victoria and in Lake Kyoga. For Pilkington Bay, series of samples were taken along an east-west line in the north-west corner of the bay and along a north-south line through the mouth of the bay. For Lake Kyoga, the main series of samples was taken from the north-east arm to the point of inflow of the Victoria Nile.

Counts of algae were made by the sedimentation technique and it was found that for Pilkington Bay Melosira was the dominant genus during the period of the investigation. For the north-east arm of Lake Kyoga the dominant alga in mid-August was Lyngbya limnetica.

At times, marked changes not only in density of phytoplankton but also in vertical distribution were observed from station to station in Pilkington Bay.

During May an increase of Melosira occurred in the north-west corner of Pilkington Bay and this increase is as likely to have been due to water movements as to growth.

Water movements have an important effect on phytoplankton distribution and it is possible that surface water movements bring about inoculation of relatively dense concentrations of phytoplankton, especially Melosira, into the Buvuma Channel from Pilkington Bay.

The contribution of the north-east arm of Lake Kyoga to the Victoria Nile system was found to be markedly different chemically and biologically from that of Lake Victoria.

A number of new records of algae from Lake Kyoga are listed.

Résumé

Des recherches sur la distribution du phytoplancton furent poursuivies dans la baie de Pilkington, dans le lac Victoria et dans le lac Kyoga. A la baie de Pilkington, des séries d'échantillons furent prélevées sur une ligne allant de l'est à l'ouest et située dans la partie nord-ouest de la baie, ainsi que sur une ligne traversant du nord au sud l'entrée de la baie. Au lac Kyoga, la principale série d'échantillons fut prélevée à partir de sa pointe nord-est jusqu'à l'arrivée des eaux de la branche mère du Nil.

Le dénombrement des algues fut fait selon le procédé de la sédimentation et les résultats de l'enquête indiquent que, dans la baie de Pilkington, Melosira était le genre le plus répandu pendant la durée des recherches. Quant à la pointe nord-est du lac Kyoga, l'algue la plus répandue, à la mi-août, était Lyngbya limnetica.

A certains moments, des variations marquèes, non seulement dans la densité du phytoplancton mais encore dans sa distribution verticale, furent constatées de divers postes d'observation sur la baie de Pilkington.

Pendant le mois de mai, il se produisit une augmentation de la quantité de Melosira dans la partie nord-ouest de la baie de Pilkington, augmentation qui semble provenir des mouvements de l'eau ainsi que de la croissance.

Le mouvement de l'eau exerce une influence importante sur la distribution du phytoplancton et il est possible que les mouvements de surface de l'eau produisent l'augmentation dans la canal de Buvuma de concentrations assez denses de phytoplancton, de Melosira surtout, provenant de la baie de Pilkington.

L'apport de la pointe nord-est du lac Kyoga au réseau de la branche mère du Nil se révéla de composition chimique et biologique sensiblement differente de celle du lac Victoria.

Un certain nombre d'observations nouvelles des algues du lac Kyoga ont été notées.

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Evans, J.H. The distribution of phytoplankton in some Central East African waters. Hydrobiologia 19, 299–315 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042989

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