Spatial and seasonal variations in the abundance of lesser flamingos (phoeniconaias minor) in relation to limnological parameters in lake Manyara, Tanzania

A study on spatial and seasonal variations in the abundance of Lesser Flamingos in relation to limnological parameters in Lake Manyara was conducted from July 2007 to August 2008. The Lesser Flamingo abundance was estimated from ground surveys while limnological data were collected at three sampling sites, once every month. The Lesser Flamingo numbers ranged from 9,319 in August 2007 to 640,850 in August 2008 while Salinity values ranged from 0.1 ‰ in November and December 2007 to 40 ‰ in November 2007 and August 2008. Phytoplankton community was dominated by cyanobacteria and a shift in the dominance between cyanobacteria Anabaena sp and Arthrospira sp was observed likely due to differences in salinity and pH threshold requirements. The Lesser Flamingo numbers positively correlated with the cyanobacterium Arthrospira sp (r = 0.0855, p < 0.001) indicating its influence on the abundance of the birds. The study has shown that physicochemical parameters of Lake Manyara experienced temporal and spatial fluctuations for most of the parameters measured. The higher diversity index at site two was attributed with high salinity recorded at this site. The lack of significant differences to most of the measured parameters of Lake Manyara indicates that the influence of fresh water and hot water from springs have little effect on the water quality characteristics. The fluctuations in the abundance of Lesser Flamingos from July 2007 to August 2008 are associated and linked to changes in the phytoplankton species community which are influenced by fluctuations on the physicochemical characteristics of the lake.