Abstract
Fish species have been used to compare the ecological characteristics of two surface waters in the same geo-ecological zones of the Central Niger Delta. The authors carried out 24 ecological expeditions along the Kolo and Otuoke Creeks in the Study Area for the purpose of comparing the ecological characteristics of these two surface waters that are in the same geo-ecological zone. Duplicate ecological surveys were conducted across three fishing seasons in the Study Area, and the traditional eco-livelihoods knowledge of experienced fishermen was explored during the survey to ensure that the surveys captured the spatial and temporal variation of fish species distribution of these creeks. The result of our study shows that there was no significant statistical ecological differences between the Kolo and Otuoke Creeks based on the following ecological indices: relative species percentage abundance; species richness; species diversity index; Shannon diversity index; and Simpson diversity index. Furthermore, the Bray-Curtis similarity index was used to demonstrate that the two surface waters were ecologically significantly similar. The implication of our findings is that the ecological attributes of surface water in the same geo-ecological zone are not significantly different in the absence of major environmental noise or human induced stress.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abam TKS (2001) Regional hydrological research perspectives in the Niger Delta. Hydrological Sciences 46(1):13–25
Alagoa EJ (1999) The land and people of Bayelsa Sate: Central Niger Delta. Onyoma Research Publications, Choba
Bloom SA (1981) “Similarity indices in community studies: potential pitfalls.” Marine Ecology - Progress Series. 125–128
Dale VH, Beyeler SC (2001) Challenges in the development and use of ecological indicators. Ecol Indic 1:3–10
De Groot R, Van der Perk J, Chiesura A, Van Vliet A (2003) Importance and threat as determining factors for critical of natural capital. Ecol Econ 44(1):187–204
Folke C (2004) “Traditional knowledge in social–ecological systems.” Ecology and Society. 9(3): 7. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss3/art7/
Giller PS, Malmqvist B (2001) The biology of streams and rivers. Oxford University Press, New York
Hoggarth DD (1999) Management guidelines for Asian floodplain fisheries: a spatial, Hierarchical and integrated strategy for adaptive co-management. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Rome. Fisheries Technical Paper 384/2 FAO
Karr JR, Chu EW (1999) Restoring life in running waters: Better biological monitoring. Island Press, Washington DC
Karr JR, Chu EW (2002) Biological monitoring: Essential foundation for ecological risk assessment. University of Washington, Seattle, 98195
Karr JR, Rossano EM (2001) Applying public health lessons to protect river health. Ecology and Civil Engineering Society 4(1):3–18
Liu D, Chen X, Nakato T (2012) Resilience assessment of water resources system. Water Resources Management 26(13):3743–3755
McGregor GR (1993) A multivariate approach to the evaluation of the climatic regions and climatic resources of China. Geoforum 24(4):357–380
Nikolic VV, Simonovic SP, Milicevic DB (2013) “Analytical Support for Integrated Water Resources Management: A New Method for Addressing Spatial and Temporal Variability”. Water Resources Management 27(2):401–417
Orfanids S, Panayotidis P, Stamatis N (2003) An insight to the Ecological Evaluation Index (EEI). Ecol Indic 3:27–33
Pavlikakis GE, Tsihrintzis VA (2000) Ecosystem management: a review of a new concept and methodology. Water Resources Management 14:257–283
Potvin C, Owen CT, Melzi S, Beaucage P (2005) “Biodiversity and modernization in four coffee-producing villages of Mexico.” Ecology and Society. 10(1):18 [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol10/iss1/art18/
Reed W, Burchard J, Hopson AJ, Jennes J, Yaro I (1967) Fish and fisheries of Northern Nigeria. Ministry of Agriculture Northern Nigeria, Zaria
Schiller A, Hunsaker CT, Kane MA, Wolfe AK, Dale VH, Suter GW. II, Russell CS, Pion G, Jensen MH, Konar VC (2001) “Communicating ecological indicators to decision makers and the public.” Conservation Ecology. 5(1):19. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol15/iss1/art19
Sikoki FD, Otobotekere AJT (1999) Chapter 24: Fisheries. In the land and people of Bayelsa State: Central Niger Delta. In: Alagoa EJ (Ed). Onyoma Research Publications, Port Harcourt, Nigeria: 411
Tamuno PBL, Howard G, Smith MD (2009) River use profile of the Central Niger Delta based on traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK). Environ Dev Sustain 11:887–903
Van Zalinge N, Thuok N, Tana TS (1998) Where there is water, there is fish? fisheries issues in the lower mekong basin from a cambodian perspective. Seventh common property conference of the international association for the study of common property, Vancouver, Canada 10–14 June 1998
Welcomme RL (2001) Inland fisheries: Ecology and management. Blackwell Science New Publishing Books, Blackwell, 358
Whitfield AK, Elliott M (2002) Fishes as indicators of environmental and ecological changes within estuaries: a review of progress and some suggestions for the future. Journal of Fish Biology 61:229–250
Whitfield AK, Paterson AW (2003) Distribution patterns of fishes in a freshwater deprived Eastern Cape Estuaries, with particular emphasis on the geographical headwater region. Water South Africa 29(1):61–67
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tamuno, P.B.L., Smith, M.D. Fish Species as Eco-indicators in the Comparative Ecological Characterisation of two Creeks in the Central Niger Delta, Nigeria. Water Resour Manage 27, 2645–2656 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0308-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0308-1