A Rapid Ecohydrological Assessment of the Ruvu River Estuary, Tanzania
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Material Information

Title:
A Rapid Ecohydrological Assessment of the Ruvu River Estuary, Tanzania
Creator:
Global Water for Sustainability Program (Florida International University)
Place of Publication:
Miami, Florida
Publisher:
Florida International University
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
76 pages

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Water resources
Ecohydrology
Estuary
Mangroves
Stable Isotopes
Tanzania
Genre:
Ecohydrology
Temporal Coverage:
June ( 2013 - 2013 )
Spatial Coverage:
Ruvu River Watershed (Morogoro Region and Pwani Region, Tanzania)
Target Audience:
Water Resource Managers, Hydrologists, Ecologists

Notes

Abstract:
This report describes the results of the first rapid ecohydrological assessment of the Ruvu River estuary (June 18-28, 2013). The specific objective was to begin understanding how the plant and animal communities are related with the salinity and flow regime in the estuary. To do so, baseline data was gathered on estuary channel depth, flow velocity, salinity and water quality, riparian vegetation community structure, marine vegetation and fish species and the presence/absence of large terrestrial and marine predators in the estuary. These baseline data are a subset of the inputs necessary to ultimately determine the minimum freshwater inflows required in the Ruvu river to maintain the estuarine ecosystem and the human communities that have been depending on them for millennia. The survey results presented in this report provide a snapshot of the wet-dry season transition. Because salinity in the estuary varies not just with location and tide but also with the seasons, additional baseline salinity data in other seasons are necessary for obtaining the salinity profile of the Ruvu estuary over a year. This report proposes a monitoring program to obtain this additional data as well as the studies necessary for a detailed understanding of the connections between freshwater flows, salinity and the ecosystem communities.

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