Effects of the hippopotamus on the chemistry and ecology of a changing watershed

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Keenan StearsJustin S Brashares

Abstract

Cross-boundary transfers of nutrients can profoundly shape the ecology of recipient systems. The common hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius, is a significant vector of such subsidies from terrestrial to river ecosystems. We compared river pools with high and low densities of H. amphibius to determine how H. amphibius subsidies shape the chemistry and ecology of aquatic communities. Our study watershed, like many in sub-Saharan Africa, has been severely impacted by anthropogenic water abstraction reducing dry-season flow to zero. We conducted observations for multiple years over wet and dry seasons to identify how hydrological variability influences the impacts of H. amphibius During the wet season, when the river was flowing, we detected no differences in water chemistry and nutrient parameters between pools with high and low densities of H. amphibius Likewise, the diversity and abundance of fish and aquatic insect communities were indistinguishable. During the dry season, however, high-density H. amphibius pools differed drastically in almost all measured attributes of water chemistry and exhibited depressed fish and insect diversity and fish abundance compared with low-density H. amphibius pools. Scaled up to the entire wate...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 25, 2018·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Amanda L Subalusky, David M Post
Apr 30, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Frank O MaseseGabriel A Singer
Jan 30, 2020·Ecology·Jonathan B ShurinAdriana Pedroza Ramos
Oct 30, 2019·Scientific Reports·Keenan StearsDouglas J McCauley

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