Skip to main content

Inland salt waters of southern Africa

Hydrobiologia volume 210, Article number: 75 (1991) Cite this article

Abstract

Inland salt lakes are widely distributed in southern Africa: they are particularly common in South Africa, but many occur in Namibia and Botswana. All are shallow, and most are ephemeral with salinities that are not very high (mostly < 50 g l−1). Fringing zones of halophytes or submerged macrophytes are neither well-developed nor taxonomically diverse. The Cyanobacteria, especially Nodularia spumigena, often dominate the phytoplankton. The fauna of the Makgadikgadi area (northeast Botswana) is diverse and is similar to that of East African salt lakes. The aquatic fauna of salt water south of the Makgadikgadi Basin, on the other hand, is extremely depauperate, has no well-defined assemblage confined to saline waters, and appears mostly to comprise tolerant freshwater forms. Lovenula falcifera and Metadiaptomus transvaalensis (diaptomid copepods), Moina micrura (Cladocera) and Brachionus plicatilis (Rotifera) are frequently encountered zooplankton species, a few species of insects (Anisops sp., beetles, chironomids and ephydrids) are the principal non-planktonic macroinvertebrates. Artemia ‘salina’ is occasionally present, but may be an introduced form. The avifauna, in contrast to the aquatic macroinvertebrate fauna, is rich, with the greater and lesser flamingo often common.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Alford, C. J., 1890. Note on a salt deposit 25 miles north of Pretoria. Witwatersrand Mining and Metallurgical Review 10: 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allanson, B. R. (ed.), 1979. Lake Sibaya. Monographiae Biologicae, 36. Junk, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allanson, B. R., 1981. The coastal lakes of southern Africa. In J. H. Day (ed.) Estuarine Ecology with Special Reference to Southern Africa. Ch. 15. Balkema, Cape Town & Rotterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allanson, B. R., R. C. Hart, J. H. O'Keefe & R. D. Robarts, 1990. Inland Waters of Southern Africa: An Ecological Perspective. Monographiae Biologicae.

  • A.P.H.A., 1975. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. 14th Edition. American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, P. J. & F. R. Schoeman, 1983. Limnological studies on the Pretoria Salt Pan, a hypersaline maar lake. 1. Morphometric, physical and chemical features. Hydrobiologia 99: 61–73.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, P. J. & F. R. Schoeman, 1988. Thermal stratification and the stability of meromixis in the Pretoria Salt Pan, South Africa. Hydrobiologia 158: 253–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayly, I. A. E., 1967. The general biological classification of aquatic environments with special reference to those in Australia. In A. H. Weatherley (ed.) Australian Inland Waters and their Fauna: Eleven Studies. A.N.U. Press, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beadle, L. C., 1932. Scientific results of the Cambridge Expedition to the East African Lakes, 1930–1931. 4. The waters of some East African lakes in relation to the fauna and flora. J. Linn. Soc. 38: 157–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beadle, L. C., 1943. An ecological survey of some inland saline waters of Algeria. J. Linn. Soc. Lond. 41: 218–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beadle, L. C., 1981. The Inland Waters of Tropical Africa. An Introduction to Tropical Limnology. Second Edition. Longman, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, H. H., 1972. Flamingo breeding on the Etosha Pan, South West Africa, during 1971. Madoqua 5: 5–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond, G. W., 1946. A geochemical survey of the underground water supplies of the Union of South Africa, with particular reference to their utilisation in power production and industry. Mem. geol. Surv. S. Afr. 41.

  • Boocock, C. & O. J. Van Straten, 1962. Notes on the geology and hydrogeology of the Kalahari region, Bechuanaland Protectorate. Trans. geol. Soc. S. Afr. 65(1): 125–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borowitzka, L. J., 1981. The microflora. Adaptations to life in extremely saline lakes. Hydrobiologia 81: 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgis, M. & J. J. Symoens (eds), 1987. African Wetlands and Shallow Water Bodies. Editions de l'ORSTOM, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butzer, K. W., G. J. Fock, R. Stuckenrath & A. Zilch, 1973. Palaeohydrology of late Pleistocene lake, Alexandersfontein, Kimberley, South Africa. Nature, Lond. 243: 328–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantrell, M. A., 1988. Effect of lake level fluctuations on the habitats of benthic invertebrates in a shallow tropical lake. Hydrobiologia 158: 125–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, V. J., 1975. The salinity problem in general, its importance, and distribution with special reference to natural halophytes. In A. Poljakoff-Mayber & J. Gale (eds) Plants in Saline Environments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cholnoky, B. J., 1955. Diatomeen aus salzhaltigen Binnengewässern der westlichen Kaap-Provinz in Südafrika. Ber. dt. bot. Ges. 68: 11–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cholnoky, B. J., 1966. Diatomeenassoziationen aus einigen Quellen in Südwest-Africa and Bechuanaland. Nova Hedwigia, Beih. 21: 163–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, D. J., 1980. Zooplankton and environmental conditions in Groenvlei, southern Cape, during 1976. J. Limnol. Soc. sth. Afr. 6(1): 5–11.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, D. J., 1983. Zooplankton and environmental conditions in a southern Cape coastal lake. J. Limnol. Soc. sth. Afr. 9(1): 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, D. J., 1986. Zooplankton and some environmental conditions in De Hoop Vlei, a southern Cape coastal lake. Bontebok 5: 10–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, E., 1895. Ueber eine nordlich von Pretoria (Transvaal Republik) in Granit gelegene Salzpfanne. Tschermak's Mitt. 2(XV).

  • Colvin, P. M., 1971. Sociological Studies of the Plankton of the Pongolo River Flood Plain. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, H. J. & B. Th. Verstappen, 1984. The landforms of the western Makgadikgadi Basin of northern Botswana, with a consideration of the chronology of Lake Palaeo-Makgadikgadi. Zeit. f. Geomorph. 28: 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross, H. A. & D. L. Theron, 1983. A new distribution record of Anopheles merus Dönitz. J. ent. Soc. sth. Afr. 45: 155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B. R., 1982. Studies on the zoobenthos of some southern Cape coastal lakes. Spatial and temporal changes in the benthos of Swartvlei, South Africa, in relation to changes in the submerged littorial macrophyte community. J. Limnol. Soc. sth. Afr. 8(1): 33–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, G. M., 1981. Different modes of evolution and adaptive radiation in the Pomatiopsidae (Prosobranchia: Mesogastropoda). Malacologia 21(1–2): 209–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, J. A. & M. K. Seely, 1988. Physical and chemical conditions in an hypersaline spring in the Namib Desert. Hydrobiologia 160: 141–153.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bruiyn, H. 1972. Pans in the western Orange Free State. Ann. Geol. Surv. S. Africa 9: 121–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Deckker, P., 1981. Ostracods of athalassic saline lakes. Hydrobiologia 81: 131–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Deckker, P., 1983. Australian salt lakes: their history, chemistry and biota — a review. Hydrobiologia 105: 231–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Ridder, M., 1987. Distribution of rotifers in African fresh and inland saline waters. Hydrobiologia 147: 9–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du Preez, J. W., 1967. The geology and hydrogeology of the Makatini Flats, with special reference to the problems of salinization and waterlogging. Geological Survey, Dept. of Mines, Pretoria. (Unpublished report quoted in Heeg et al. (1978))

    Google Scholar 

  • Dussart, B. H., 1980. Les crustaces copepodes d'Afrique. Catalogue et biogeographie. Hydrobiologia 72: 165–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, D. H., undated. Identification of hydrobiological specimens collected on the Makarikari Expedition 1957. Appendix III to Makarikari Report, Rhodesian Schools Exploration Society, pp. 143–163. Unpublished.

  • Ferguson, H. & C. F. Juritz, 1938. The salt pans and salt industry of South Africa. Dept. of Commerce and Industries, Indust. Bull., 104.

  • Flint, F. R. & G. Bond, 1968. Pleistocene sand ridges and pans in western Rhodesia. Bull. Geol. Soc. America 79: 299–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuldali, R. F., D. P. Gold & J. J. Gurney, 1973. The Pretoria Salt Pan: astrobleme or crypto-volcano? J. Geol. 81: 495–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, M. H., 1928. Recherches sur la Faune des Eaux de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie. Minerva, Alger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier-Lièvre, L., 1931. Recherches sur la Flore des Eaux Continentales de l'Afrique du Nord. Minerva, Alger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geldenhuys, J. N., 1982. Classification of the pans of the western Orange Free State according to vegetation structure, with reference to avifaunal communities. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 12: 55–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Good, R., 1964. The Geography of the Flowering Plants. Third Edition. Longmans, Green & Co., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goudie, A. S. & D. S. G. Thomas, 1985. Pans in southern Africa with particular reference to South Africa and Zimbabwe. Z. Geomorph. N.F. 29: 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, A. T., 1969. Landforms and climatic change in the Kalahari and Ngamiland. Geogr. J. 135: 191–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer, U. T., 1986. Saline Lake Ecosystems of the World. Junk, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, A. D., 1962. Hydrobiological studies on alkaline and acid still waters in the western Cape Province. Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr. 36(4): 213–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heeg, J. & C. M. Breen, 1982. Man and the Pongolo floodplain. South African National Scientific Programmes Report No. 56.

  • Heeg, J., C. M. Breen, P. M. Colvin, H. D. Furness & C. F. Musil, 1978. On the dissolved solids of the Pongolo Flood Plain pans. J. Limnol. Soc. sth. Afr. 4(1): 59–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hugo, P. J. (compiler), 1974. Salt in the Republic of South Africa. Dept. of Mines, Geological Survey Memoir 65. Pretoria.

  • Hutchinson, G. E., 1967. A Treatise on Limnology. Vol. II. Introduction to Lake Biology and the Limnoplankton. Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, G. E., G. E. Pickford & J. F. M. Schuurman, 1929. The inland waters of South Africa. Nature, Lond. 123: 832–833.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, G. E., G. E. Pickford & J. F. M. Schuurman, 1932. A contribution to the hydrobiology of pans and other inland waters of South Africa. Arch. Hydrobiol. 24: 1–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkin, P. M., 1932. Reports on the Percy Sladen Expedition to some Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya in 1929. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 10(9): 533–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkin, P. M., 1936. Reports on the Percy Sladen Expedition to some Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya in 1929. 7. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 10(18): 133–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalk, M., A. J. McLachlan & C. Howard-Williams (eds), 1979. Lake Chilwa. Studies of Change in a Tropical Ecosystem. Monographiae Biologicae, 35. Junk, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kok, D. J., 1974. Aspects of the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Lovenula (Copepoda, Calanoida) in the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam. In E.M.v. Zinderen Bakker Sr. (ed.) The Orange River: Progress Report. University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, I. N., 1974. Pans of the southern Kalahari. Botswana Notes & Records 6: 157–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, I. N., 1978. The pans of the southern Kalahari, Botswana. Geogr. J. 144: 80–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Roux, J. S., 1978. The origin and distribution of pans in the Orange Free State. S.A. Geographer 6(2): 167–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, D. A. & J. M. Melack, 1984. Some lakes of subsaharan Africa. In F.B. Taub (ed.) Lakes and Reservoirs. Ecosystems of the World, 23. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T. R., 1987. The origin of the pans of the Orange Free State — a morphotectonic study of the Palaeo-Kimberley River. Palaeoecology of Africa 19. (not seen).

  • Martens, K., 1986. Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Megalocypridinae Rome, 1965 (Crustacea, Ostracoda). Verhandl. K. Akad. Wetensch., Lett., Schone Kunsten Belg., Kl. Vetersch. 48(174): 1–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martens, K., 1988. Seven new species and two new subspecies of Sclerocypris SARS, 1924, from Africa, with new records of some other Megalocypridinids (Crustacea, Ostracoda). Hydrobiologia 162: 243–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martens, K., in press. Ostracoda. In J. Day, J. King & B. R. Davies (eds) Handbook of South African Freshwater Invertebrates.

  • Martens, K. & A. Coomans, in press. Phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Megalocypridinae Rome, 1965: with an updated checklist of the subfamily. In A. Whatley & K. Maybury (eds) Ostracoda and Global Events. Proceedings of the tenth International Symposium on Ostracoda.

  • Meadows, M. E., 1988. Landforms and Quaternary climatic change. In B. P. Moon & G. F. Dardis (eds) The Geomorphology of Southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mepham, J. S., 1987. Southern Africa. In M. J. Burgis & J. J. Symoens (eds) African Wetlands and Shallow Water Bodies. Éditions de l'ORSTOM, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, S. & M. T. Seaman, 1988. Observations on the coexistence of fresh and saltwater invertebrates in an inland saltworks. J. Limnol. Soc. Sth. Afr. 14(2): 121–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreau, J., 1987. Madagascar. In M. J. Burgis & J. J. Symoens (eds) African Wetlands and Shallow Water Bodies. Editions de l'ORSTOM, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musil, C. F, J. O. Grunow & C. H. Bornman, 1973. Classification and ordination of aquatic macrophytes in the Pongola River pans, Natal. Bothalia 11(1,2): 181–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muspratt, J. & S. F. Henning, 1983. Mosquitoes of an inland salt marsh in the eastern Transvaal region of South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 79: 378–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noble, R. G. & J. Hemens, 1978. Inland Water Ecosystems in South Africa — A review of research needs. South African National Scientific Programmes Report No. 34.

  • Paterson, H. E., J. S. Paterson & G. J. van Eeden, 1964. Records of the breeding of ‘Saltwater Anopheles gambiae’ at inland localities in southern Africa. Nature, Lond. 201: 524–525.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelling, A. J., 1925. Salt pans of South Africa. J. chem. metall. Min. Soc. S. Afr. 25(9).

  • Prior, A. B., 1978. Properties of two halophilic bacteria from a salt pan. Water S.A. 4(3): 119–124.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rust, U., 1984. Geomorphic evidence of Quaternary environmental changes in Etosha, South West Africa/Namibia. In J. Vogel (ed.) Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere. Balkema, Rotterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauer, E. G. F. & C. J. V. Rocher, 1967. Flamingo nests and eggs on Etosha Pan. Bokmakierie 19(1): 10–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoeman, F. R. & P. J. Ashton, 1982a. The diatom flora of the Pretoria Salt Pan, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa. Bacillaria 5: 63–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoeman, F. R. & P. J. Ashton, 1982b. The diatom flora in the vicinity of the Pretoria Salt Pan, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa. I. Nova Hedwigia, Beih. 73: 21–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoeman, F. R. & P. J. Ashton, 1983. The diatom flora in the vicinity of the Pretoria Salt Pan, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa. Part II. S. Afr. J. Bot. 2: 191–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoeman, F. R., R. E. M. Archibald & P. J. Ashton, 1984. The diatom flora in the vicinity of the Pretoria Salt Pan, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa. Part III (final). S. Afr. J. Bot. 3: 191–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, L., 1988. The Pretoria salt pan: A unique source of Quaternary palaeoenvironmental information. S. Afr. J. Sci. 84: 560–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W. E., H. J. Tausig & M. T. Seaman, 1980. Report on the investigation of limnological conditions of a number of pans in the Orange Free State Gold Fields. Unpublished Report, C.S.I.R., Pretoria (W5/35/3).

  • Seaman, M. T., & D. J. Kok, 1987. Ecological diversity in Orange Free State Pans. In R. D. Walmsley & M. L. Botten (compilers), 1987. Proceedings of a Symposium on Ecology and Conservation of Wetlands in South Africa. Occasional Report Series No. 28, Ecosystem Programmes, Foundation for Research Development, CSIR, Pretoria.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, P. A., & H. J. Cooke, 1986. Geomorphic evidence for the late Quaternary palaeoclimates of the middle Kalahari of northern Botswana. Catena 13: 349–359.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, P. A., 1988. Lakes and pans. In B. P. Moon & D. F. Dardis (eds) The Geomorphology of Southern Africa. Southern Book Publishers, Johannesburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talling, J. H. & I. B. Talling, 1965. The chemical composition of African lake waters. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 50(3): 421–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uys, C. J., C. J. Broekhuysen, J. Martin & J. G. MacLeod, 1963. Observations on the breeding of the greater flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus in the Bredasdorp district, South Africa. The Ostrich, Sept.: 129–154.

  • van Rooyen, T. H. & R. du T. Burger, 1973. Physiographic features of the Central Orange River Basin, with a note on pan formation. S. Afr. Geogr. 4: 218–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vareschi, E., J. M. Melack & P. Kilham, 1981. Saline waters. In J. J. Symoens, M. Burgis & J. J. Gaudet (eds) The Ecology and Utilization of African Inland Waters. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, P. A., 1922. The Pretoria salt-pan. A soda caldera. Dept. of Mines and Industries, Geological Survey. Mem. No. 20, 1–136, Pretoria.

  • Watson, A., 1979. Gypsum crusts in deserts. J. arid Envir. 2: 3–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weir, J. S., 1966. Ecology and zoogeography of aquatic Hemiptera from temporary pools in central Africa. Hydrobiologia 28: 123–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weir, J. S., 1968. Seasonal variation in alkalinity in pans in central Africa. Hydrobiologia 32: 69–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weir, J. S., 1969. Studies on central African pans III. Fauna and physico-chemical environment of some ephemeral pools. Hydrobiologia 33: 93–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, W. D. & M. W. Mellor, in press. Ecology of Coxiella (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Prosobranchia), a snail endemic to Australian salt lakes. Palaeogeog. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol.

  • Worthington, E. B. & C. K. Ricardo, 1936. Scientific Results of the Cambridge Expedition to the East African Lakes 1930–1931. No. 15. The fish of Lake Rudolph and Lake Baringo. J. Linn. Soc. Lond. 39: 353–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    M. T. Seaman

  2. Division of Water Technology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa

    P. J. Ashton

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    W. D. Williams

Authors
  1. M. T. Seaman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. J. Ashton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. W. D. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Seaman, M.T., Ashton, P.J. & Williams, W.D. Inland salt waters of southern Africa. Hydrobiologia 210, 75 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014324

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014324

Key words

  • saline lakes
  • athalassic
  • southern Africa
  • Namibia
  • Botswana
  • South Africa