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Browsing Water by Author "Agembe, S."
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Publication Lake Turkana: World’s Largest Permanent Desert Lake (Kenya)(Springer Nature, 2016-08-25) Ojwang, W. O.; Obiero, K. O.; Donde, O. O.; Gownaris, N.; Pikitch, E. K.; Omondi, R.; Agembe, S.; Malala, J.; Avery, S. T.Located in the “cradle of mankind” of the East African Rift Valley, Lake Turkana is distinguished as both the world’s largest permanent desert lake and alkaline water body. With a surface area of about 7,560 km2, Lake Turkana is a highly pulsed, variable system as a result of its closed-basin nature, arid surroundings, and its strong dependence on River Omo for the majority of its inflow, which originates as rainfall over the Ethiopian highlands. In this article we describe the lake’s unique ecosystem and associated vicissitudes, diverse habitats and incredible biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Although parts of the lake and lower Omo Delta have been zoned as an international biosphere reserve, Lake Turkana and the region are facing immense threat from anthropogenic activities. A combination of external factors (hydropower dams, irrigation schemes, climate anomalies) and internal drivers (demography, economic growth) will strongly impact the Lake Turkana basin over the next decade. In turn, this will have significant negative consequences on resource productivity and the wellbeing of local communities.Publication Lake Turkana: World’s Largest Permanent Desert Lake (Kenya)(Springer, Dordrecht, 2016-08-22) Ojwang, W. O.; Obiero, K. O.; Donde, O. O.; Gownaris, N.; Pikitch, E. K.; Omondi, R.; Agembe, S.; Malala, J.; Avery, S. T.Located in the “cradle of mankind” of the East African Rift Valley, Lake Turkana is distinguished as both the world’s largest permanent desert lake and alkaline water body. With a surface area of about 7,560 km2, Lake Turkana is a highly pulsed, variable system as a result of its closed-basin nature, arid surroundings, and its strong dependence on River Omo for the majority of its inflow, which originates as rainfall over the Ethiopian highlands. In this article we describe the lake’s unique ecosystem and associated vicissitudes, diverse habitats and incredible biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Although parts of the lake and lower Omo Delta have been zoned as an international biosphere reserve, Lake Turkana and the region are facing immense threat from anthropogenic activities. A combination of external factors (hydropower dams, irrigation schemes, climate anomalies) and internal drivers (demography, economic growth) will strongly impact the Lake Turkana basin over the next decade. In turn, this will have significant negative consequences on resource productivity and the wellbeing of local communities.Publication Soda Lakes of the Rift Valley (Kenya)(Springer, 2017) Agembe, S.; Ojwang, W.; Olilo, C.; Omondi, R.; Ongore, C.Soda lakes are alkaline with pH values ranging from 8 to 12 and characterized by high concentrations of principal ions such as Na+, HCO−, CO32− and Cl−. Kenya is endowed with many soda lakes forming part of the East African Rift Valley system and includes lakes Bogoria, Nakuru, Elementeita, and Magadi. In addition, Lake Turkana is located on the Kenya-Ethiopian border further north and is described in a separate chapter in this volume. These lakes are characterized by steep fault escarpments, deep gorges, canyons, and craters on the rift floor, some of which have gushing geysers and hot springs. Historically, the lakes were thought to have been one continuous system called Lake Kamatian. Reconstruction of the history of the four lakes based on dated sedimentary time-series data reveal unique hydrological, ecological, and species richness trends that have fluctuated through time between alkaline and freshwater conditions.