22.05.2019: Gernot ENGLMAIER (Graz): River Zonation in the tropics - a case study from the Awash River (Ethiopia): Do tropical systems fit the temperature models? HS 02.11, Institut für Biologie, Bereich für Zoologie, Univ.-Platz 2, 13:15 Uhr.
Several theoretical approaches exist to classify riverine stretches and describe the changing environmental gradients along the rivers course. Traditionally, concepts are based on physical-/chemical water parameters, the geomorphological characteristics of the riverine corridor and biological communities. While the distribution/zonation of important organism groups (fish and benthic invertebrates) is well studied in temperate climates, a major lack of knowledge exists in tropical rivers. In the light of increasing anthropogenic influence on aquatic ecosystems (e.g. hydropower utilization, industrial production, water abstraction, deforestation, water pollution) and the resulting loss of biodiversity, fundamental studies in tropical river ecology get more and more important again. Within the framework of an international project, the longitudinal zonation of fish assemblages and selected benthic invertebrates were studied in the Awash River (Ethiopia). First results of the joint project will be presented and the relevance of integrative work in taxonomy, ecology, biomonitoring and a wider socio-economic perspective will be discussed.