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Urban impact on ecological integrity of nearby rivers in developing countries: the Borkena River in highland Ethiopia

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Abstract

Accelerated pollution and eutrophication of rivers and streams because of human activity are a concern throughout the world and severe in Africa where Ethiopia is case in point. The objective of this study was to assess the urban impact on the ecological integrity of the Borkena River at the eastern escarpment of the central Ethiopian highlands. The water quality status and macroinvertebrate distribution and diversity of the river were assessed during the dry and wet seasons. Diversity indices revealed that a severe decline in the ecological integrity of the Borkena River downstream of Dessie and within Kombolcha towns in terms of macroinvertebrate abundance and composition. Clustering and ordination analysis clearly separated reference sites from urban impacted sites. At the urban-impacted sites, dissolved oxygen was also depleted to 0.5 mg/l and BOD5 values were reached to a level of above 1,000 mg/l, with extremely low biological diversity of pollution-sensitive taxa. These patterns are the result of a combination of rampant dumping of untreated wastes exacerbated by geologic, topographic, climatic and land use factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Science and Nature Management (APNA), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels, 1050, Belgium

    Abebe Beyene & Ludwig Triest

  2. Environmental Health, Jimma University, P.O. Box 378, Jimma, Ethiopia

    Abebe Beyene & Worku Legesse

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Helmut Kloos

Authors
  1. Abebe Beyene
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  2. Worku Legesse
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  3. Ludwig Triest
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  4. Helmut Kloos
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Correspondence to Abebe Beyene.

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Beyene, A., Legesse, W., Triest, L. et al. Urban impact on ecological integrity of nearby rivers in developing countries: the Borkena River in highland Ethiopia. Environ Monit Assess 153, 461–476 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0371-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0371-x

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