Modeling Physical Processes and Water Quality in Lake Malawi (Africa)

PI: Harvey Bootsma

Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa or Lake Niassa) is among the world's largest lakes, and is home to more species of fish than any other lake on earth. In addition to its importance as a reservoir of fish diversity, the lake is an important source of food to people in the region.

In the past decade, it has become evident that, despite their great size, the African Great Lakes are not immune to human activities in their watersheds, and present trends in land use may threaten the ecological integrity of these lakes. In order to improve the capacity for the management of Lake Malawi, a number of institutions have collaborated to develop a preliminary physical processes and water quality model for Lake Malawi.

The goal is to provide a tool to predict the behavior of physical processes in the lake on a seasonal basis. In addition, the model will assist in making wise land and water management decisions by predicting changes in lake water quality likely to arise as a result of proposed development and the conservation/protection options.

For more general information on Lake Malawi and its resources, and a description of the modeling approach and environmental decision support software, see http://www.crle.uoguelph.ca/malawi.

See Also:

UWM Research Profile article: "Turning the Tide in the Great Lakes"

Harvey Bootsma Lab