Gs. Merron et Mn. Bruton, COMMUNITY ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE FISHES OF THE OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA, Environmental biology of fishes, 43(2), 1995, pp. 109-119
The Okavango Delta is a large inland swamp in northern Botswana which
receives an annual flood from the highlands of southern Angola. There
are distinct fish taxocenes in the Okavango which can be separated fro
m each other by the physical characteristics of the different habitat
types with which they co-evolved. An account is given of the ecology a
nd conservation of the fishes of the Okavango Delta. Their response to
the annual flood regime, and the environmental factors that limit the
ir distribution and abundance, are described. In the northern riverine
floodplain and perennial swamp a higher species richness and ichthyom
ass was recorded than in the seasonal swamp and drainage rivers. Sugge
stions are made on the conservation of Okavango fishes taking into acc
ount the ecological characteristics of the Delta.