Paleolimnological evidence of the effects of recent cultural eutrophication during the last 200 years in Lake Malawi, East Africa

To assess the long-term water quality changes in Lake Malawi, paleolimnological reconstructions of four radiometrically dated sediment cores collected in 1997/98 along a longitudinal transect of the lake were based on preserved diatom assemblages, as well as stratigraphies of organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and biogenic silica concentrations. Population growth, deforestation and intensive agriculture, especially in the southern catchments, have accelerated soil erosion causing rivers to transport greater sediment and nutrient loads into Lake Malawi. Southern cores contain evidence of nutrient enrichment starting around 1940, as indicated by increased silica, carbon and nitrogen influxes. By 1980, increased rates of sedimentation, phosphorus influx, diatom influx, and relative abundances of eutrophic diatom taxa are attributable to accelerated nutrient enrichment accompanying soil erosion. The succession of diatoms in southern Lake Malawi begins with dominance by Aulacoseira nyassensis and Fragilaria africana, followed by a shift in 1980 towards Stephanodiscus, Cyclostephanos and Nitzschia, diatom taxa that have reduced silica requirements. Paleoecological results indicate that patterns of diatom assemblage change are not uniform lake-wide. Evidence of eutrophication extends to central Lake Malawi, but is not observable in the paleo-record from the deeper northern basin. The recent cultural eutrophication of the southern lake has impacted the biogeochemical cycling of silica, the available silica to phosphorus ratios, and the diatom communities of a large portion of Lake Malawi. These results provide a warning that eutrophication of this great lake is underway and will continue unless changes are made to current land use practices within the lake's catchment.