Saving the Serengeti-Masai Mara.

Dybas, Cheryl Lyn

The article discusses research into the drying of the Mara River and its effects on the Serengeti-Masai Mara ecosystem in Kenya using the concepts of ecohydrology, which explores the interactions of hydrology, ecology and human influences on water resources. Sustained droughts, the deforestation of the Mau Forest for agricultural conversion, and the extraction of water for irrigation have reduced the flow of the Mara River, threatening the drinking water supply for the wildlife of the Serengeti-Masai Mara as well as the livelihoods of small farmers and villages. An ecohydrologic approach identified ecosystems crucial for the conservation and help develop more effective strategies to protect the river, including the reduction of irrigation water removal and land rehabilitation.

SERENGETI Plain (Tanzania); MARA River (Kenya & Tanzania); KENYA; TANZANIA; ECOHYDROLOGY; DROUGHTS & the environment; AGRICULTURAL ecology; IRRIGATION; DEFORESTATION; WATER supply research; HABITATS; SOUTH West Mau Forest Reserve (Kenya)

BioScience, 2011, Vol 61, Issue 11, p850

0006-3568

Academic Journal

10.1525/bio.2011.61.11.4