De impact van hydro-ecologische variatie op de gemeenschappen van ongewervelden in poelen van de Zuid-Afrikaanse savanne. Naar een duurzaam beheer van bedreigde ecosystemen in de Ndumo ,,

Temporary aquatic ecosystems (e.g. wetlands, pans, ponds, pools) are common, especially in semi-arid regions of the world like southern Africa. While they are often diversity hotspots for aquatic species with high degrees of endemicity, they are also of socio-economic importance and provide resources to humans. Despite their importance, temporary aquatic ecosystems can be threatened by human activities such as pollution, drainage or damming. Still, adequate management strategies that take into account the preservation of both socio-economic and biodiversity are often deficient. In order to establish sustainable management strategies, a proper understanding of ecosystem functioning and the present biota is needed. Overall, our aim was to assess the factors that influence the diversity and community composition of aquatic invertebrates of temporary wetlands (pans) in northern KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. Specifically, we investigated how (i) the construction of Pongolapoort Dam influenced streamflow in the Phongolo River and (ii) how lateral hydrological connectivity (LHC) of pans to the river and reserve protection affect local environmental variables and, in turn, the diversity and community composition of aquatic invertebrates. To study this, we surveyed temporal pans of varying sizes in the Phongolo floodplain that are (i) periodically connected to the Phongolo River, (ii) endorheic pans in Ndumo Game Reserve (NGR) a Ramsar site and (iii) pans in the Ndumo Communal Area (NCA) that are exposed to anthropogenic activities (e.g. agriculture, livestock and deforestation).nrpages: 168status: publishe