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Temporal dynamics of a subtropical floodplain pool after 2 years of supra-seasonal drought: a mesocosm study

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Abstract

A need exists to understand how drought and its linked consequences threaten aquatic ecosystems and their associated biota in semi-arid countries, as climate change is predicted to increase the effects of these events. South Africa experienced one of the worst droughts in its history from 2015 to 2017 and, as a result, all but the permanent waterbodies of the lower Phongolo River floodplain (PRF) in northern KwaZulu-Natal dried up. This study examined the resilience of aquatic invertebrates associated with the PRF and what the colonization and succession trends of aquatic invertebrates would be once floodplain pools were to receive water again following a 2-year drought. Water and aquatic invertebrates were collected 11 times from nine field mesocosms over a 5-week period for chemical and biodiversity analysis, respectively. Zooplankton hatched from resting stages and macroinvertebrates colonized the mesocosms from nearby permanent waterbodies within the first week of inundation, suggesting that the drought had not affected the ability of aquatic biota to continue natural colonization and succession. Although the biota appeared unaffected, an extension of such a drought could lead to habitat fragmentation and total desiccation of permanent waterbodies, potentially causing the local extinction of aquatic populations and a loss of biodiversity.

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Acknowledgements

Mrs. Anja Erasmus is acknowledged for creating the map used in the manuscript. Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife are acknowledged for issuing the necessary permits to work in Ndumo Game Reserve (Permit No: OP 941/2016). This is contribution number 642 from the North-West University–Water Research Group.

Funding

Lizaan de Necker acknowledges funding from Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) (Grant UID: 105122, L de Necker); the NRF-Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) Professional Development Programme (Grant UID: 127549); and the use of infrastructure and equipment provided by the NRF-South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) Research Platform and the funding channelled through the NRF-SAIAB Institutional Support system. This work is also based on research supported in part by the NRF of South Africa (NRF project: CPRR160429163437 Grant: 105979, NJ Smit, PI) and a VLIR-UOS TEAM project (ZEIN21013PR396, PI: L Brendonck and V Wepener). Opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are that of the authors, and the NRF, DAAD and VLIR-UOS accepts no liability in this regard.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Lizaan de Necker, Ruan Gerber, Johan van Vuren, Victor Wepener, Nico J. Smit & Luc Brendonck

  2. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (NRF-SAIAB), Makhanda, 6139, South Africa

    Lizaan de Necker

  3. Animal Ecology, Global Change and Sustainable Development, Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Luc Brendonck

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  1. Lizaan de Necker
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Contributions

Conceptualization: LdN and RG; Methodology: LdN and RG; Formal analysis and investigation: LdN; Writing—original draft preparation: LdN and RG; Writing—review and editing: LB, JvV, VW and NJS; Funding acquisition: LB, VW and NJS; Resources: LB, VW and NJS; Supervision: LB, JvV, VW and NJS.

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Correspondence to Lizaan de Necker.

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The North-West University AnimCare ethics committee are acknowledged for providing the necessary ethical clearance to conduct this research (Ethics No: NWU-00264–16-A5).

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de Necker, L., Gerber, R., van Vuren, J. et al. Temporal dynamics of a subtropical floodplain pool after 2 years of supra-seasonal drought: a mesocosm study. Hydrobiologia 849, 795–815 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04743-2

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