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The environmental history of a climate-sensitive lake in the former 'White Highlands' of central Kenya

(1999) AMBIO. 28(6). p.494-501
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Abstract
Paleolimnological analyses of sediment cores from Lake Oloidien in Kenya's central Rift Valley produced a detailed chronology of climate-driven environmental change since the early 1800s. During much of the 19th century and between about 1940 and 1991, Lake Oloidien was shallow and inhabited by algal and invertebrate communities typical of saline lakes. Confluence with Lake Naivasha between about 1890 and the late 1930s flushed dissolved salts out of Lake Oloidien and created a temporary freshwater phase with papyrus swamp, well-developed submerged macrophyte beds, and reduced algal production. The timing and magnitude of ecological change in Lake Oloidien implies that early agricultural development of the Rift Valley by British colonial settlers coincided with an unusually favorable water-resource availability, out of balance with long-term trends in rainfall and evaporation. Recent lake-level decline and rising salinity are in part a natural consequence of the lake's hydrological response to interannual and decade-scale climate variability. However, ongoing diversion of Rift Valley river inflows for cropland irrigation and industry accelerates the salinization of Lake Oloidien, and may result in deterioration of precious freshwater resources throughout the region.
Keywords
PHYTOPLANKTON, EAST-AFRICA, MANAGEMENT, NAIVASHA, WATERS, SCALE, SEA

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Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Verschuren, Dirk, et al. “The Environmental History of a Climate-Sensitive Lake in the Former ‘White Highlands’ of Central Kenya.” AMBIO, vol. 28, no. 6, 1999, pp. 494–501.
APA
Verschuren, D., Tibby, J., Leavitt, P. R., & Roberts, C. N. (1999). The environmental history of a climate-sensitive lake in the former “White Highlands” of central Kenya. AMBIO, 28(6), 494–501.
Chicago author-date
Verschuren, Dirk, John Tibby, Peter R Leavitt, and C Neil Roberts. 1999. “The Environmental History of a Climate-Sensitive Lake in the Former ‘White Highlands’ of Central Kenya.” AMBIO 28 (6): 494–501.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Verschuren, Dirk, John Tibby, Peter R Leavitt, and C Neil Roberts. 1999. “The Environmental History of a Climate-Sensitive Lake in the Former ‘White Highlands’ of Central Kenya.” AMBIO 28 (6): 494–501.
Vancouver
1.
Verschuren D, Tibby J, Leavitt PR, Roberts CN. The environmental history of a climate-sensitive lake in the former “White Highlands” of central Kenya. AMBIO. 1999;28(6):494–501.
IEEE
[1]
D. Verschuren, J. Tibby, P. R. Leavitt, and C. N. Roberts, “The environmental history of a climate-sensitive lake in the former ‘White Highlands’ of central Kenya,” AMBIO, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 494–501, 1999.
@article{113333,
  abstract     = {{Paleolimnological analyses of sediment cores from Lake Oloidien in Kenya's central Rift Valley produced a detailed chronology of climate-driven environmental change since the early 1800s. During much of the 19th century and between about 1940 and 1991, Lake Oloidien was shallow and inhabited by algal and invertebrate communities typical of saline lakes. Confluence with Lake Naivasha between about 1890 and the late 1930s flushed dissolved salts out of Lake Oloidien and created a temporary freshwater phase with papyrus swamp, well-developed submerged macrophyte beds, and reduced algal production. The timing and magnitude of ecological change in Lake Oloidien implies that early agricultural development of the Rift Valley by British colonial settlers coincided with an unusually favorable water-resource availability, out of balance with long-term trends in rainfall and evaporation. Recent lake-level decline and rising salinity are in part a natural consequence of the lake's hydrological response to interannual and decade-scale climate variability. However, ongoing diversion of Rift Valley river inflows for cropland irrigation and industry accelerates the salinization of Lake Oloidien, and may result in deterioration of precious freshwater resources throughout the region.}},
  author       = {{Verschuren, Dirk and Tibby, John and Leavitt, Peter R and Roberts, C Neil}},
  issn         = {{0044-7447}},
  journal      = {{AMBIO}},
  keywords     = {{PHYTOPLANKTON,EAST-AFRICA,MANAGEMENT,NAIVASHA,WATERS,SCALE,SEA}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{494--501}},
  title        = {{The environmental history of a climate-sensitive lake in the former 'White Highlands' of central Kenya}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{1999}},
}

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