Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of authors
- Preface
- I INTRODUCTION
- II FUNCTION OF GROUNDWATER / SURFACE WATER INTERFACES
- 2 Ecotonal animal assemblages; their interest for groundwater studies
- 3 Stochasticity in resource utilization by a larval chironomidae (diptera) community in the bed sediments of a gravel stream
- 4 Temporal and spatial dynamics of meiofaunal assemblages in the hyporheic interstitial of a gravel stream
- 5 Interstitial fauna along an epigean-hypogean gradient in a Rocky Mountain river
- 6 Filter effect of karstic spring ecotones on the population structure of the hypogean amphipod Niphargus virei
- 7 Community respiration in the hyporheic zone of a riffle-pool sequence
- 8 Diversity, connectivity and variability of littoral, surface water ecotones in three side arms of the Szigetköz region (Danube, Hungary)
- 9 Seasonal dynamics and storage of particulate organic matter within bed sediment of three streams with contrasted riparian vegetation and morphology
- 10 Bedsediments: Protein and POM content (RITRODAT-Lunz study area, Austria)
- 11 Dynamics and vertical distribution of particulate organic matter in river bed sediments (Morava River, Czech Republic)
- 12 Surface water/groundwater/forest alluvial ecosystems: functioning of interfaces. The case of the Rhine floodplain in Alsace (France)
- 13 Modelling of hydrological processes in a floodplain wetland
- 14 Contribution to the groundwater hydrology of the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya
- 15 The role of hydrology in defining a groundwater ecosystem
- 16 Typology of water transport and chemical reactions in groundwater/lake ecotones
- 17 Development of a water transfer equation for a groundwater/surface water interface and use of it to forecast floods in the Yanghe Reservoir Basin
- 18 Uses and limitations of ground penetrating RADAR in two riparian systems
- III MALFUNCTION OF GROUNDWATER / SURFACE WATER INTERFACES: CAUSES AND METHODS OF EVALUATION
- IV MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION OF GROUNDWATER / SURFACE WATER INTERFACES
- V CONCLUSION
- ANNEX
14 - Contribution to the groundwater hydrology of the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of authors
- Preface
- I INTRODUCTION
- II FUNCTION OF GROUNDWATER / SURFACE WATER INTERFACES
- 2 Ecotonal animal assemblages; their interest for groundwater studies
- 3 Stochasticity in resource utilization by a larval chironomidae (diptera) community in the bed sediments of a gravel stream
- 4 Temporal and spatial dynamics of meiofaunal assemblages in the hyporheic interstitial of a gravel stream
- 5 Interstitial fauna along an epigean-hypogean gradient in a Rocky Mountain river
- 6 Filter effect of karstic spring ecotones on the population structure of the hypogean amphipod Niphargus virei
- 7 Community respiration in the hyporheic zone of a riffle-pool sequence
- 8 Diversity, connectivity and variability of littoral, surface water ecotones in three side arms of the Szigetköz region (Danube, Hungary)
- 9 Seasonal dynamics and storage of particulate organic matter within bed sediment of three streams with contrasted riparian vegetation and morphology
- 10 Bedsediments: Protein and POM content (RITRODAT-Lunz study area, Austria)
- 11 Dynamics and vertical distribution of particulate organic matter in river bed sediments (Morava River, Czech Republic)
- 12 Surface water/groundwater/forest alluvial ecosystems: functioning of interfaces. The case of the Rhine floodplain in Alsace (France)
- 13 Modelling of hydrological processes in a floodplain wetland
- 14 Contribution to the groundwater hydrology of the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya
- 15 The role of hydrology in defining a groundwater ecosystem
- 16 Typology of water transport and chemical reactions in groundwater/lake ecotones
- 17 Development of a water transfer equation for a groundwater/surface water interface and use of it to forecast floods in the Yanghe Reservoir Basin
- 18 Uses and limitations of ground penetrating RADAR in two riparian systems
- III MALFUNCTION OF GROUNDWATER / SURFACE WATER INTERFACES: CAUSES AND METHODS OF EVALUATION
- IV MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION OF GROUNDWATER / SURFACE WATER INTERFACES
- V CONCLUSION
- ANNEX
Summary
ABSTRACT The Amboseli ecosystem consists of the basement plains, the lacustrine saline plains with fresh water swamps and the volcanic slopes of the Kilimanjaro. The area is well known for its large and varied population of wild herbivores, supporting a large tourist industry. The two major fresh spring zones sustaining some 20 km2 of swamps and an additional 16 km2 of wet areas chiefly covered by grass, belong to the relatively shallow part of a regional groundwater flow system in the volcanic complex. A 7.5 m rise of the groundwater table since the 1960s and the recent expansion of one of the swamps has caused concern. The rise cannot be explained by the available rainfall data and may be related to more frequent runoff, because of overgrazing, in the catchment feeding episodically the seasonal Lake Amboseli. In addition, tectonic movements may have increased the outflow of the the deeper diffuse part of the flow system.
The dynamics of the swamps have been studied. Available data suggest that no major changes are likely to affect the swamps in the near future. A good proportion of the annual recharge of the springs, about 14 % of the estimated rainfall, takes place in the Tanzanian part.
INTRODUCTION
The Amboseli ecosystem can be characterized as a semiarid savanna environment, which shows considerable spatial and temporal variation in resources; climate, soils, vegetation and hydrology. This has an important bearing on the structure and functioning of the ecosystem and has important consequences for the management. The area is well known for its large and varied population of wild and domestic herbivores, upon which a large tourist industry is based.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Groundwater/Surface Water EcotonesBiological and Hydrological Interactions and Management Options, pp. 111 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997
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