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5/24/2018 | 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM | HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL BIOGEOCHEMISTRY REVEALS TWO ALTERNATIVE STATES: AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC | 430 B

HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL BIOGEOCHEMISTRY REVEALS TWO ALTERNATIVE STATES: AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC

Hippopotami have long been recognized as ecosystem engineers, capable of transforming their environment, yet their influence on the biogeochemistry of aquatic ecosystems is not well known. Hippopotami load 36,000 kg per day of feces into the Mara River of East Africa, primarily into pools occurring along the main river channel and tributaries that can harbor 1-130 individuals each. Water samples were taken upstream, downstream, and at the surface and bottom of pools of varying volume, discharge, and hippopotamus densities, both before and after flushing flows. Multivariate analysis reveals that hippopotamus pools exist in two alternative states depending upon the density of hippopotamus loading and the time since flushing. Low-density hippopotamus pools remain aerobic and can be a source or sink for nutrients. High-density hippopotamus pools quickly become anaerobic between flushing flows and export nutrients and microbial byproducts. Transitions between these states are influenced by river discharge; episodic flushing of pools resets them back to the aerobic state. The frequent shifts between these alternative states create heterogeneity in space and time in pools as well as for downstream receiving waters.

Eutrophication
Oxygen
Tropical Rivers

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Presenters/Authors

Christopher Dutton (), Yale University, cldutton@gmail.com;