ENSO Project |
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Background: Lake Tanganyika is very sensitive to climate variability. Its sediments might prove to be real archives of paleoclimatic variability. Several environmental parameters have been correlated with ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) in this area (Plisnier, Serneels & Lambin, in print for Global Ecology and Biogeography). Laminated sediments are known to exist in Lake Tanganyika. The diatom community is sensitive to climatic change (Degens et al., 1971; Haberyan & Hecky, 1987); |
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Execution: Royal Museum of Central Africa (MRAC), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and Universiteit Gent (RUG), Belgium; |
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Duration: 4 years, 1997-2000; |
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Funding: Belgian Federal Government; |
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Activities: a multidisciplinary scientific programme including remote sensing and teleconnection as well as field sampling for sedimentology and planktonic analysis of the sediments of Lake Tanganyika. A large climatological databank has already been established. A coring expedition, together with a Swiss research team, was executed in November 1998. Many sediment cores were sampled, and several CTD measurements were taken between Mpulungu (Zambia) and Kipili (Tanzania) and up to greater depths (down to 1300 m) in the Tanzanian waters close to the Congolese border across Kipili. |
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Results: part of their findings were published in the following article: "Impact of ENSO on East African ecosystems: a multivariate analysis based on climate and remote sensing data" by Plisnier P.D., Serneels S. & E.F. Lambin, 2000, Global Ecology & Biogeography (2000) 9: 481-97. ENSO is an important driver of inter-annual variations in climate and ecosystem productivity in tropical regions. The findings of the study confirm the ENSO impact on the climatic and ecological variability in East Africa. However, it is also shown that the pattern of teleconnections is much more complex than generally assumed, both in terms of spatial distribution and impact on different ecosystem variables. Not all climate and land surface variables are teleconnected to ENSO in the same way, which leads to a complex impact of ENSO on the ecosystem. Moreover, the ENSO impact is highly differentiated in space, as the direction, magnitude and timing of this impact are controlled by the local climate system, the presence of large lakes, proximity to the coast and, possibly, local topography and land cover. |
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Final summary: |
Summary of the ENSO project |
Bibliography |
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Cocquyt, C and D. Schram, 2000. Diatom assemblages in surface sediments along the eastern coast of Lake Tanganyika. Hydobiologia 436: 59-71. |
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Cocquyt, C. , 1999. Seasonal variations in periphytic diatom communities in the northern basin of Lake Tanganyika. Systematics and geography of Plants 69: 265-273. |
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Cocquyt, C. ,1999. Diatoms from a hot spring in Lake Tanganyika. Nova Hedwigia 68: 425-439. |
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Cocquyt, C., 1999. Seasonal dynamics of diatoms in the littoral zone of Lake Tanganyika, Northern Basin. Arch. Hydrobiol. series: Algological Studies 92: 73-85. |
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Cocquyt, C., 2000. Biogeography and Species Diversity of Diatoms in the Northern Basin of Lake Tanganyika. Advances in Ecological Research, 31, 2000, 125-150. |
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Cocquyt, C., 2001. Notes on Cymatopleura calcarata Hustedt (Bacillariophyceae), an endemic diatom from Lake Tanganyika. Festschrift für H. Lange-Berlalot: in press. |
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Cocquyt,C., 2000. A light and microscopic investigation of Surirella brevicostata O. Müller (Bacillariophyceae), an endemic Tropical African diatom. Systematics and Geography of Plants 70: 245-254. |
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Francus P. & Karabanov E., 2000. A computer-assisted thin-section study of lake Baikal sediments: a tool for understanding sedimentary processes and deciphering their climatic signal. International Journal of Earth Sciences, Geologische Rundschau, 89, 2, 260-267. |
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Francus P., 1999. Using image analysis to estimate quantitatively some microstructural parameters of detrital sediments. Geologica Belgica, 2/3-4, 173-180. (published in 2000). |
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Francus P., 2001. Quantification of bioturbation in hemipelagic sediments via thin-sections image analysis. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 71, 3, 501-507. |
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Plisnier P.D. Climate and Limnology changes in Lake Tanganyika. Verhandlungen Internationale Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie. In press. |
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Plisnier P.-D. Limnological profiles and their variability in Lake Tanganyika. IDEAL, Proceedings of the second Internationl symposium on East African Lakes at Lake Malawi, Makakola 01/2000. In press. |
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Plisnier P.-D., 1997. Lake Tanganyika Research seeks evidence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation during the past 1000 years. Bulletin of the International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL), Spring issue: 4. |
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Plisnier P.-D., 1998. Lake Tanganyika: Recent climate changes and teleconnections with ENSO. Proceedings of the International Conference Tropical Climatology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Brussels, 22-24 May 1996). G. Demarée, J. Alexandre and M. De Dapper (ed.):Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences and Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium: 228-250 |
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Plisnier P.-D., 1998. Limnologische Untersuchungen am Tanganjikasee. DATZ, 09/1998: 594-600. |
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Plisnier P.-D., D. Chitamwebwa, L. Mwape, K. Tshibangu, V. Langenberg and E. Coenen, 1999. Limnological annual cycle inferred from physical-chemical fluctuations at three stations of Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 407: 47-61. |
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Plisnier P.-D., S. Serneels and E.F. Lambin, 2000. Impact of ENSO on East African ecosystems: a multivariate analysis based on climate and remote sensing data. Global Ecology and Biogeography 9 (6): 481-497. |
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Plisnier P.-D. and E.C. Coenen, 2001. Pulsed and dampened annual limnological fluctuations in Lake Tanganyika. In: The Great Lakes of the World (GLOW): Food-web, health and integrity. Munawar M. and Hecky R. (Eds). Ecovision World Monograph Series, Leiden, The Netherlands: 81-94. |
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Sarvala J., K. Salonen, M. Järvinen, E. Aro, T. Huttula, P. Kotilainen, H. Kurki, V. Langenberg, P. Mannini, A. Peltonen, P.-D. Plisnier, I. Vuorinen, H. Mölsä and O. V. Lindqvist, 1999. Trophic structure of Lake Tanganyika: carbon flows in the pelagic food web. Hydrobiologia 407: 155-179. |