Background: Water clarity may negatively influence rate of plunge diving and prey capture success of piscivorous plunge-diving birds, and therefore has implications for their conservation in polluted urban wetlands. W...Background: Water clarity may negatively influence rate of plunge diving and prey capture success of piscivorous plunge-diving birds, and therefore has implications for their conservation in polluted urban wetlands. We studied the relationship between water clarity and the abundance and prey capture success of Pied Kingfishers(Ceryle rudis) and Common Terns(Sterna hirundo) in two polluted coastal waters of south-east Ghana—the Weija Lake and Densu Delta Ramsar Site.Methods: On each wetland, data on abundance and prey capture success of plunge-divers were collected in four spatio-temporal quadrats of 100 m × 100 m and analysed with concurrent measurements of water quality parameters using GLM regression with Pearson's correlation coefficients.Results: Mean prey capture success of Pied Kingfishers(34.7 e two species responded differently to water clarity. The± 13.1%) and Common Terns(35.3 abundance of Common Terns was± 11.0%) were similar but th significantly higher in less transparent/more turbid water while that of Pied Kingfishers showed no significant relationship with turbidity and transparency. In contrast, the prey capture success of Common Terns was neither related to transparency nor turbidity, as opposed to that of Pied Kingfishers which was significantly higher in more turbid/less transparent waters. Correlations between capture success and bird abundance, as well as capture attempts were insignificant, suggesting that increased fish abundance associated with cloudy water may not necessarily promote higher abundance and capture success of foraging birds. Thus, when foraging in less transparent water, capture success may depend more on predator avoidance by fish prey than lower prey detectability of foraging birds.Conclusion: Within a gradient of 15–51 cm transparency studied, lower water clarity did not constrain prey capture success of Common Terns and Pied Kingfishers. Further studies on the foraging ecology of plunge-divers in coastal Ghana are however required to make firm conclusions on the relationship between water clarity and foraging birds and fish prey abundances, as well as capture success.展开更多
The CSIR Water Research Institute undertook water quality monitoring and assessment of the Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems of Ghana from 2005 to 2008 for the Water Resources Commission of Ghana (WRC) under...The CSIR Water Research Institute undertook water quality monitoring and assessment of the Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems of Ghana from 2005 to 2008 for the Water Resources Commission of Ghana (WRC) under WRIS II Project, a Danish Government Funded Project. The Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems cover approximately 30% of the total drainage basins of Ghana. A total of 19 surface water stations were selected for the monitoring programme. The Adapted Water Quality Index (WQI) was to be used as a tool to classify the overall ambient water quality at the 19 different stations. The index classified water quality into one of four categories: good (Class I, >80), fairly good (Class II, 50 - 80), poor (Class III, 25 - 50), and grossly polluted (Class IV, <25). This paper presents the Water Quality Index approach to the assessment of water quality of the waters in the different stations during the period of study. These ten water quality parameters were used to determine the water quality index (WQI): Dissolved Oxygen (DO % Saturation), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4-N), Faecal Coliform (FC), pH, Nitrate as Nitrogen (NO3-N), Phosphate as Phosphorus (PO4-P), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Conductivity and Temperature. Evaluation of the waters with the WQI indicated that most Ghanaian waters are currently in Class II, the fairly good water quality state, but with variations in this range within the seasons and stations, and from one water body to the other. Potroase in the Densu basin had the best water quality during the study period while Nsawam had the poorest. Efforts should be made to prevent further pollution of the waters to improve their quality.展开更多
文摘Background: Water clarity may negatively influence rate of plunge diving and prey capture success of piscivorous plunge-diving birds, and therefore has implications for their conservation in polluted urban wetlands. We studied the relationship between water clarity and the abundance and prey capture success of Pied Kingfishers(Ceryle rudis) and Common Terns(Sterna hirundo) in two polluted coastal waters of south-east Ghana—the Weija Lake and Densu Delta Ramsar Site.Methods: On each wetland, data on abundance and prey capture success of plunge-divers were collected in four spatio-temporal quadrats of 100 m × 100 m and analysed with concurrent measurements of water quality parameters using GLM regression with Pearson's correlation coefficients.Results: Mean prey capture success of Pied Kingfishers(34.7 e two species responded differently to water clarity. The± 13.1%) and Common Terns(35.3 abundance of Common Terns was± 11.0%) were similar but th significantly higher in less transparent/more turbid water while that of Pied Kingfishers showed no significant relationship with turbidity and transparency. In contrast, the prey capture success of Common Terns was neither related to transparency nor turbidity, as opposed to that of Pied Kingfishers which was significantly higher in more turbid/less transparent waters. Correlations between capture success and bird abundance, as well as capture attempts were insignificant, suggesting that increased fish abundance associated with cloudy water may not necessarily promote higher abundance and capture success of foraging birds. Thus, when foraging in less transparent water, capture success may depend more on predator avoidance by fish prey than lower prey detectability of foraging birds.Conclusion: Within a gradient of 15–51 cm transparency studied, lower water clarity did not constrain prey capture success of Common Terns and Pied Kingfishers. Further studies on the foraging ecology of plunge-divers in coastal Ghana are however required to make firm conclusions on the relationship between water clarity and foraging birds and fish prey abundances, as well as capture success.
文摘The CSIR Water Research Institute undertook water quality monitoring and assessment of the Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems of Ghana from 2005 to 2008 for the Water Resources Commission of Ghana (WRC) under WRIS II Project, a Danish Government Funded Project. The Southwestern and the Coastal Rivers Systems cover approximately 30% of the total drainage basins of Ghana. A total of 19 surface water stations were selected for the monitoring programme. The Adapted Water Quality Index (WQI) was to be used as a tool to classify the overall ambient water quality at the 19 different stations. The index classified water quality into one of four categories: good (Class I, >80), fairly good (Class II, 50 - 80), poor (Class III, 25 - 50), and grossly polluted (Class IV, <25). This paper presents the Water Quality Index approach to the assessment of water quality of the waters in the different stations during the period of study. These ten water quality parameters were used to determine the water quality index (WQI): Dissolved Oxygen (DO % Saturation), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4-N), Faecal Coliform (FC), pH, Nitrate as Nitrogen (NO3-N), Phosphate as Phosphorus (PO4-P), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Conductivity and Temperature. Evaluation of the waters with the WQI indicated that most Ghanaian waters are currently in Class II, the fairly good water quality state, but with variations in this range within the seasons and stations, and from one water body to the other. Potroase in the Densu basin had the best water quality during the study period while Nsawam had the poorest. Efforts should be made to prevent further pollution of the waters to improve their quality.
