Vulnerability and adaptability of Africa’s inland fisheries to climate change : an interdisciplinary approach to a multi-dimensional conservation challenge

This thesis takes a cross-disciplinary approach employing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to integrate social and ecological data for a holistic understanding of the vulnerability of Africa’s freshwater fisheries to climate change. This thesis is comprised of three major sections: the first (Chapter 1) uses a meta-analytical approach to predict vulnerability of Africa’s exploited freshwater fishes based on species traits and predicted climate change exposure. The second section (Chapters 2 and 3) employs an experimental approach to test the ability of the Nile perch, a commercially harvested fish species in the Lake Victoria basin of East Africa, to physiologically adjust thermal tolerance limits to increased water temperatures. The final section, (Chapter 4), investigates how fishing-dependent communities adjust to climate-mediated changes in the ecosystem with the aim to determine vulnerability and resilience of stakeholder communities to projected changes in the fishery