Species diversity of the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Aquatic Sciences

Volumn 68, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 310-337

  Ramberg, Lars ^a   Hancock, Peter ^b   Lindholm, Markus ^c   Meyer, Thoralf ^a   Ringrose, Susan ^a   Sliva, Jan ^d   Van As, Jo ^e   VanderPost, Cornelis ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA   (Botswana)

^b Ecotourism Services   (Botswana)

^c UNIVERSITY OF OSLO   (Norway)

^d TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH   (Germany)

^e UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Africa; Biodiversity; Habitat; Okavango; Species; Wetlands

Indexed keywords

AMPHIBIAN; BIRD; FISH; MAMMAL; PLANT; REPTILE; SPECIES DIVERSITY; SPECIES OCCURRENCE; TEMPORAL VARIATION;

AFRICA; BOTSWANA; OKAVANGO DELTA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; ZAMBEZI RIVER; ZAMBIA;

AMPHIBIA; ANIMALIA; AVES; MAMMALIA; REPTILIA;

EID: 33750583228     PISSN: 10151621     EISSN: 14209055     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00027-006-0857-y     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (102)

1. Andersson, A., T. Gumbricht, D. Hughes, D. Kniveton, S. Ringrose, H. Savenije, M. Todd, J. Wilk and P. Wolski, 2003. Water flow dynamics in the Okavango river basin and Delta-a prerequisite for the ecosystems of the Delta. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 28: 1165-1172.
2. Arnold, T. H. and B. C. de Wet, 1993. Plants of Southern Africa: Names and distribution. Memoires of the Botanical Survey of South Africa, 62, National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
3. Barnes, J. E., L. M. Turton and E. Kalake, 1994. A List of the Flowering Plants of Botswana in the herbaria at the National Museum, Sebele and University of Botswana. Revised Edition by The Botswana Society and national Museum, Monuments and Art Gallery, Gaborone.
4. Beilfuss, R., C. Bento, P. Hancock, B. Kamweneshe, K. McCann, K. Morrison and L. Rodwell, 2002. Water, wetlands and Wattled Cranes: A regional monitoring and conservation program for Southern Africa.
5. Bird Life International, 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Editions and Bird Life International.
6. Bonyongo, M. C., 2004. The ecology of large herbivores in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. PhD thesis, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, UK, 125 pp.
7. Bonyongo, M. C., G. J. Bredenkamp and E. Veenendaal, 2000. Floodplain vegetation in the Nxaranga Lagoon Area, Okavango Delta, Botswana. S. Afr. J. Bot., 66: 15-21.
8. Butzer, K. W., 1984. Archeogeology and Quaternary environment in the interior of southern Africa. In: Klein, R.G. and A. A. Balkema (eds.). Southern African Prehistory and Paleoenvironments, Rotterdam, pp. 1-64.
9. Coe, M. J., D. H. Cumming and J. Phillipson, 1976. Biomass and production of large African herbivores in relation to rainfall and primary production. Oecologia 22: 341-354.
10. Conservation International, 2003. A line in the sand. The unsustainable expansion of Botswana's beef industry at the expense of local communities and the Okavango Delta, CD and briefing document, EIA US, P.O. Box 53343, Washington DC 200009, USA.
11. Cooke, H. J., 1980. Landform evolution in the context of climatic changes and neotectonics in the middle Kalahari of north-central Botswana. Transactions Institute of British Geographers, NS 5: 80-99.
12. Cronberg, G., A. Gieske, E. Martins, J. Prince Nengu and I.-M. Stenstrom, 1996. Major ion chemistry, plankton, and bacterial assemblages of the Jao/Boro River, Okavango Delta, Botswana: The swamps and floodplains. Arch.Hydrobiol./Suppl. 107: 335-407.
13. Cotterill, F., 1998. Reducine antelope of the Zambezi Basin. In: Timberlake, J. (ed.), Biodiversity of the Zambezi Wetlands. Biodiversity Foundation for Africa, P.O. Box FM 730, Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, pp. 145-199.
14. Cumming, D., 1999. Study on the development of transboundary natural resource management areas in Southern Africa - Environmental context: Natural resources, land use, and conservation. Biodiversity support program, Washington DC, USA, 67 pp.
15. Dangerfield, M. J., 2004. Monitoring of terrestrial invertebrates. In: Perkins, J. and L. Ramberg (eds.), Environmental monitoring of tsetse fly aerial spraying impacts in the Okavango Delta - 2002. Okavango Report Series 2: 52-150. (ISBN 99912-948-8-8).
16. Davies, B. R., 1986. The Zambezi river system. In: Davies, B. R. and Walker, K. F. (eds.), The Ecology of River Systems, W. Junk, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 225-267.
17. Dincer, T., H. H. Heemstra and B. B. J. Khupe, 1987. Study, using stable isotopes of flow distribution, surface-groundwater relations and evapotranspiration in the Okavango swamp, Botswana, Isotope Hydrology, Proceedings Neuherberg Symposium, IAEA, Vienna.
18. East, R., 1984. Rainfall, soil nutrient status and biomass of large African savanna mammals. African Journal of Ecology 22: 245-270.
19. Ellery, W. N., K. Ellery, K. H. Rodgers and T. S. McCarthy, 1995. The role of Cyperus papyrus in channel blockage and abandonment in the northeastern Okavango Delta, Botswana. African Journal of Ecology 33: 25-49.
20. Ellery, W. N. and B. Tacheba, 2003. Floristic Diversity of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. In: Alonso, L.E. and L.-A. Nordin (eds.) A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Okavango Delta, Botswana: High Water Survey. RAP-Bulletin of Biological Assessment 25: 69-96.
21. Ellery, W. N., K. Ellery and T. S. McCarthy, 1993. Plant distribution on islands of the Okavango Delta: determinants and feedback interactions. African Journal of Ecology 31: 118-134.
22. Ellery, W. N., T. S. McCarthy and J. M. Dangerfield, 2000. Floristic diversity in the Okavango Delta, Botswana as an endogenous product of biological activity. In: Gopal, B., W. J. Junk and J. A. Davis (eds.), Biodiversity of wetlands: assessment, function and conservation, Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp. 195-226.
23. Ellery, W. N. and K. Ellery, 1997. Plants of the Okavango Delta, A Field Guide, Tsaro Publications, Durban, South Africa, 224 pp.
24. European Union (EU), 2000. From Landcover to Landscape Diversity in the European Union. EU report on website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/ publi/landscape.
25. Gibbs Russell, G. E., 1987. Preliminary floristic analysis of the major biomes in southern Africa. Bothalia 17: 213-227.
26. Gieske, A., 1995. Vegetation driven ground water recharge below the Okavango Delta (Botswana) as a solute sink mechanism - an indicative model. Conference on groundwater recharge and rural water supply. Johannesburg, South Africa, September 1995. pp: 119-124.
27. Gilson, L. and K. Lindsay, 2003. Ivory and ecology: changing perspectives on elephant management and the international trade in ivory. Environmental Science and Policy 6: 411-419.
28. Gumbricht, T. J. and T. S. McCarthy, 2004. Channels, wetlands and islands in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, and their relation to hydrological and sedimentological processes. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 29: 15-29.
29. Hancock, P., 2005. Butterflies. In Mosepele, K. and B. Mosepele (eds.): AquaRap II: Rapid Assessment of the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Okavango Delta, Botswana: Low Water Survey. Draft Final Report, Conservation International, Washington DC., USA, pp. 149-151.
30. Hart, R. C., 1997. A limnological profile of the upper Okavango Delta at low water level. Sth. Afr. Aquat. Sci. 23: 21-33.
31. Hart, R. C., N. A. Rayner and H. Mosepele, 2003. A brief commentary on Okavango Delta Micro-Crustacea. In: Alonso, L. E. and L.-A. Nordin (eds.), A rapid biological assessment of the aquatic ecosystems of the Okavango Delta, Botswana: High water survey. RAP Bullentin of Biological Assessments, Conservation International, Washington DC, USA.
32. Henning, G. A. and S. F. Henning, 1989. Butterflies. South African Red Data Book, African National Scientific Programmes Report No. 158.
33. Hermann, J.-M., 2003. Vegetation study in a seasonal floodplain of the Okavango Delta. MSc Thesis, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Chair of Vegetation Ecology, Freising-Weihenstephan, Munich, Germany.
34. Högberg, P., M. Lindholm, L. Ramberg and D. O. Hessen, 2002. Aquatic food web dynamics on a floodplain in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Hydrobiologica 470: 23-30.
35. Huntsman-Mapila, P., A. B. Kampunzu, B. Vink and S. Ringrose, 2005. Cryptic indicators of provenance in the geochemistry of the Okavango Delta sediments, NW Botswana. Sedimentary Geology 174: 123-148.
36. IUCN, 1993. The IUCN review of the Southern Okavango Integrated Water Development Project, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, 543 pp.
37. Junk, W. J., 2003. Tropical/Subtropical Wetland Biodiversity: Status of Knowledge, Threats and Sustainable management. In: Bernard, T., K. Mosepele and L. Ramberg (eds.), Environmental monitoring of tropical and subtropical wetlands, Okavango Report Series 1: 45-69. (ISBN 99912-949-0-2)
38. Kipping, J., 2003. Die Libellenfauna (Odonata) Botswanas - eine aktuelle kommentierte Checkliste mit Angaben zu Phaenologie, Habitatpreferenz und Schutzbedarf der Arten. Diplomarbeit an der Hochschule Anhalt, Bernburg, Germany, 230 pp.
39. Lindholm, M., 2006. Zooplankton diversity and successions in the Okavango Delta, Botswana - diversity and ecosystem interactions in land/water ecotones. PhD dissertation, Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Norway.
40. Mbaiwa, J. E., 2003. The socio-economic and environmental impacts of tourism development on the Okavango Delta, northwestern Botswana. Journal of Arid Environments 54: 447-467.
41. McCarthy, T. S., 1992. Physical and biological processes controlling the Okavango Delta - a review of recent research. Botswana Notes and Records 24: 57-86.
42. McCarthy, T. S. and W. N. Ellery, 1998. The Okavango Delta. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 53: 157-182.
43. McCarthy, T. S., M. Barry, A. Bloem, W. N. Ellery, H. Heister, C. L. Merry, H. Ruther and H. Sternberg, 1997. The gradient of the Okavango fan, Botswana, and its sedimentological and tectonic implications. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 24: 65-78.
44. McCarthy, T. S., W. N. Ellery and J. M. Dangerfield, 1998. The role of biota in the infiltration and growth of islands on the floodplain of the Okavango alluvial fan, Botswana. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 23: 291-316.
45. McCarthy, T. S., W. N. Ellery, J. R. McIver and B. T. Verhagen, 1991. Groundwater evolution, chemical sedimentation and carbonate brine formation on an island in the Okavango Delta swamp, Botswana. Applied Geochemistry 6: 577-596.
46. McCarthy, T. S., W. N. Ellery and K. Ellery, 1993. Vegetation-induced subsurface precipitation of carbonate as an aggradational process in the permanent swamps of the Okavango (delta) fan, Botswana. Chemical Geology 107: 111-131.
47. McCarthy,T. S., W. N. Ellery and A. Bloem, 1998a. Some observations on the geomorphological impact of hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius L.) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. African Journal of Ecology 36: 44-56.
48. Mendelsohn, J. and S. el Obeid. 2004. Okavango River. The flow of a lifeline, Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 176 pp.
49. Merron, G. S., 1993. The diversity, distribution and abundance of the fishes in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve, Okavango Delta, Botswana. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 23: 115-122.
50. Meyer, T., 1999. Ecological mappings in the research area of the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, Okavango Delta, Botswana. MSc thesis, Hochschule Anhalt, Bernburg, Germany, 181 pp.
51. Modisi, M. P., E. A. Atekwana, A. B. Kampunzu and T. H. Ngwisanyi, 2000. Rift kinematics during the incipient stages of continental expansion: Evidence from the nascent Okavango rift basin, northwest Botswana. Geology 28: 939-942.
52. Monmonier, M.,1974. Measurements of complexity for choroplethic maps. The American Cartographer 1: 2.
53. Moravec, F. and J. G. Van As, 2004. Some nematodes from the squeaker fish Synodontis nigromaculatus and S. vanderwaali from the Okavango River, Botswana, including three new species. Systematic Parasitology, 59: 169-187.
54. Mosepele, K., 2000. Preliminary length based stock assessment of the main exploited stocks of the Okavango Delta fishery. MSc. thesis, Department of Fisheries and Marine Biology, University of Bergen, Norway, 139 pp.
55. Murray, M., 1997. Fauna of the Okavango River basin (Botswana sector). Permanent Okavango River Basin Commission, Preparatory Assessment Study, 45 pp. and Annexes A-F.
56. Nicholson, S. E., 2000. The nature of rainfall variability over Africa on time scales of decades to millennia. Global Planetary Change 26:137-158.
57. Owen-Smith, N., 1988. Megaherbivores. The influence of very large body size on ecology, Cambridge Studies in Ecology, University Press, Cambridge, 369 pp.
58. Palmer, C. G., 2004. Monitoring of aquatic invertebrates. In: Perkins, J. and L. Ramberg (eds.), Environmental monitoring of tsetse fly aerial spraying impacts in the Okavango Delta - 2002. Okavango Report Series 2: 31-51 (HOORC, Maun).
59. Partridge, T. C., P. Demenocal, S. A. Lorentz, M. J. Paiker and J. C. Vogel, 1997. Orbital forcing of climate over South Africa: a 200,000-year rainfall record from Pretoria Salt Pan. Quaternary Science Reviews 16: 1125-1133.
60. Partridge, T. C., L. Scott and J. E. Hamilton, 1999. Synthetic reconstructions of southern African environments during the Last Glacial Maximum (21-28 kyr) and the Holocene Altithermal (8-6 kyr). Quaternary International 57/58: 207-214.
61. Penry, H., 1994. Bird Atlas of Botswana. University of Natal Press, Natal, 319 pp.
62. Perkins, J. and L. Ramberg (eds.), 2004a. Environmental monitoring of tsetse fly aerial spraying impacts in the Okavango Delta - 2002, Okavango Report Series 2: 1-150 (HOORC, Maun).
63. Perkins, J. and L. Ramberg (eds.), 2004b. Environmental recovery monitoring of tsetse fly spraying impacts in the Okavango Delta - 2003, Okavango Report Series 3: 1-157 (HOORC, Maun).
64. Petit, J. R., 1999. Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostock ice core, Antarctica. Nature 399: 429-436.
65. Pinhey, E. C. G., 1967. Odonata of Ngamiland. Arnoldia Rhod. 3: 1-17.
66. Pinhey, E. C. G., 1976. Dragonflies (Odonata) of Botswana, with ecological notes. Occas. Pap. Natl. Mus. Rhod. B., Nat. sci. 5/10: 524-601.
67. Pinhey, E. C. G., 1968. Checklist of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of Botswana. Part 1. Botswana Notes and Records 1: 85-92.
68. Pinhey, E. C. G., 1971. Checklist of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of Botswana. Part 2. Botswana Notes and Records 3: 148-152.
69. Pinhey, E. C. G., 1974. Checklist of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of Botswana. Part 1. Botswana Notes and Records 6: 197-200.
70. Pinhey, E. C. G., 1976. Checklist of the Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of Botswana (final part). Botswana Notes and Records 8: 269-288.
71. Pringle, E. L. L., G. A. Henning and J. B. Ball (eds.), 1994. Pennington's Butterflies of Southern Africa, Second Edition, Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 800 pp.
72. Ramberg, L., 1993. African communities in conservation: A humanistic perspective. Journal of African Zoology 107: 5-18.
73. Ramberg, L., 1997. A pipeline from the Okavango river? Ambio 26: 129.
74. th November 1997. NCSA, Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing, pp. 41-50.
75. Ramberg, L., 2002. Statement on the proposed removal of aquatic vegetation and vegetation blockages in the Okavango Delta. Open letter to Principal Hydrological Engineer, Department of Water Affairs, Government of Botswana. HOORC webpage.
76. Ramberg, L., 2004a. An overview of environmental effects caused by deltamethrin spraying of the Okavango Delta 2001, 2002 and recovery monitoring in 2003. In: Perkins, J. and L. Ramberg (eds.), Environmental recovery monitoring of tsetse fly spraying impacts in the Okavango Delta - 2003. Okavango Report Series 3: 1-30. (ISBN 99912-949-8-8).
77. Ramberg, L., 2004b. Preliminary assessment of EIA for the Maun Groundwater Development Project. Report to Chief Technical Advisor, Okavango Delta Management Plan and subsequently presented to Department of Water Affairs and stakeholders. HOORC website.
78. Ramberg, L., P. Wolski and M. Krah, 2006. Water balance and infiltration in a seasonal floodplain in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Wetlands 26(3), in press.
79. Reed, P. B., 1988. National List of Plant Species that Occur in Wetlands: National Summary. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington D.C. Biological report 88(24).
80. Ringrose, S., 2003. Techniques for assessing the use of near surface groundwater by riparian trees in the distal Okavango Delta, Botswana. Applied Geography 32: 281-302.
81. Ringrose, S, D. Lesolle, T. Botshoma, B. Gopolang, C. VanderPost and W. Matheson, 1999. An analysis of vegetation cover components in relation to climatic trends along the Botswana Kalahari Transect. Botswana Notes and Records 31: 33-52.
82. Ringrose, S., C. VanderPost and W. Matheson, 2003a. Mapping ecological conditions in the Okavango delta Botswana using fine and coarse resolution systems including simulated SPOT VEGETATION imagery. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24: 1029-1052.
83. Ringrose, S. and W. Matheson, 2003b. Assessment of vegetation cover trends and local ecological factors along the Botswana Kalahari Transect. Journal of Arid Environments 54: 297-317.
84. Ringrose, S., P. Huntsman-Mapila, A. B. Kampunzu, W. Downey, S. Coetzee, B. Vink, W. Matheson and C. VanderPost, 2005. Sedimentological and geochemical evidence for palaeo-environmental change in the Makgadikgadi subbasin, in relation to the MOZ rift depression, Botswana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology 217: 265-287.
85. Rosenzweig, M. L., 1995. Species diversity in space and time. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
86. Skelton, P. H., 2001. A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa, Southern Book Publishers (PTY) LTD, Halfway House, 395 pp.
87. Skelton, P. H., 2002. Changes to the scientific and common names of southern African freshwater fishes. African Journal of Aquatic Science 27: 171-174.
88. Skelton, P. H., M. N. Bruton, G. S. Merron and B. C. W. Van der Waal, 1985. The fishes of the Okavango drainage system in Angola, South west Africa and Botswana: taxonomy and distribution. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J. L. B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 50: 1-21.
89. Skinner, J. D. and R. H. N. Smithers, 1990. The mammals of the southern African subregion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 771 pp.
90. Sliva, J., M. Murray-Hudson and M. Heinl, 2004. Vegetation species diversity inventory in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. In: Mosepele, K. and B. Mosepele (eds.) AquaRap II: A Rapid Assessment of the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Okavango Delta, Botswana: Low Water Survey. Draft Final Report, Conservation International, Washington DC, USA, pp. 69-83.
91. SMEC, 1989. Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Cooma NSW Australia: Ecological Zoning Okavango Delta. Final report, Volume I, Main report to the Ministry of Local Government and Lands, Government of Botswana.
92. Smithers, R. H. N., 1971. The mammals of Botswana. Museum memoirs of the National Museums and Monuments, Rhodesia 4: 1-340.
93. st Edition, University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
94. Stokes, S., D. S. G. Thomas and R. Washington, 1997. Multiple episodes of aridity in southern Africa since the last interglacial period. Nature 388: 154-158.
95. Thomas D. S. G. and P. A. Shaw, 1991. The Kalahari Environment, Cambridge University Press Publishers, Cambridge, 248 pp.
96. Tiercelin, J. J. and K. F. Lezzar, 2002. A 300 million year history of rift lakes in Central and East Africa: an updated broad review. In: Odada, E. O. and D. O. Olago (eds.), The East African Great Lakes, Limnology, Palaeolimnology, and Biodiversity, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 3-60.
97. Timberlake, J. R., 1998. Biodiversity of the Zambezi basin wetlands: Review and preliminary assessment of available information. Volume 1 (Summary and synthesis), Volume 2 (Technical reviews). Biodiversity Foundation for Africa, Bulawayo/Zambezi Society, Harare, Zimbabwe. 241 pp. and 652 pp. resp.
98. Timberlake, J. R. and S. L. Childes, 2004. Biodiversity in the Four Corners Area: Technical Reviews, Volume 1 and 2. Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 15, Biodiversity Foundation for Africa, Bulawayo/Zambezi Society, Harare, Zimbabwe. 496 pp.
99. Tyler, S. J. and D. R. Bishop, 1998. Important Bird Areas of Botswana. In: Barnes, K. (ed.), The Important Bird Areas of southern Africa. BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg, pp. 333-354.
100. Tyson, P. D. R. Fuchs, C. Fu, L. Lebel, A. P. Mitra, E. Odada, J. Perry, W. Steffen and H. Virji, (eds.), 2002. Global-Regional Linkages in the Earth System, START, Springer-Verlag, New York, 198 pp.
101. Werger, M. J. A. and B. J. Coetzee, 1978. The Sudano-Zambezian Region. In: M. I. A. Werger (ed.), Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa, Dr. W. Junk Publisher, The Hague, pp. 301-462.
102. White, F., 1983. The vegetation of Africa. A descriptive memoir to accompany the Unesco/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa. Unesco, Paris, 356 pp.