Accueil l UNamur l Site officiel URBE l Contacts et localisation l Facilités à Namur l Congrès l
Ecologie des communautés et fonctionnement des écosystèmes aquatiques 
 
Unité de
Recherche
en Biologie
Environnementale et Evolutive


Lake Tanganyika

LFE research on Lake Tanganyika was run in the framework of multidisciplinary projects on the effects of climate change on this large tropical lake. The main contribution of LFE was on limnology and phytoplankton ecology. Parallel research conducted by PhD students and postdocs and through collaborations focused on
- bacterioplankton biomass, production and fate (Sam Pirlot)
- picophytoplancton (Stéphane Stenuite, Hugo Sarmento, Pep Gasol)
- diversity and trophic role of protists (Anne-Laure Tarbe, Fernando Unrein)
- assessment of phytoplankton biomass and production by remote sensing (Stéphanie Horion, Nadia Bergamino, Yves Cornet)
- ecohydrodynamic modelling (Jaya Naithani, François Darchambeau, Eric Deleersnijder)
- phytoplankton diversity and ecology (Maya P. Stoyneva, Wim Vijverman)
- bacterioplankton diversity (Aaike de Wever, Wim Vijverman)
- silica fractionation by diatoms (Laurent Alleman, Luc André)
- climate change impacts on fisheries (Pierre-Denis Plisnier, Ishmael Kimirei, …)

Publications

PDF : Microbial communities in large tropical lakes (East African Rift Lakes) Response to environmental changes

Descy, J.-P., M.-A. Hardy, S. Sténuite, S. Pirlot, B. Leporcq , I. Kimirei, B. Sekadende, S.R. Mwaitega and D. Sinyenza 2005. Phytoplankton pigments and community composition in Lake Tanganyika. Freshwater Biology, 50: 668-684.
Descy, J.-P., B. Leporcq, M.-A. Hardy, S. Pirlot, S. Sténuite, I. Kimirei, B. Sekadende, S.R. Mwaitega & D. Sinyenza, 2005. Le phytoplancton du Lac Tanganyika: une vision par l'analyse des pigments algaux. Bull. Séanc. Acad. R. Sci. Outre-Mer, 51 : 129-142.
Plisnier, P.-D. & Descy, J.-P., 2005. CLIMLAKE: Climate variability as recorded in Lake Tanganyika - Final Report (2001-2005). Brussels, Belgian Science Policy, 105 pp.
Unrein F, Sarmento H. 2005. El Lago Tanganyika. Investigacion y Ciencia Julio:38-39.
Pirlot S., Vanderheyden J., Descy J.-P. & Servais, P., 2005 Abundance and biomass of heterotrophic micro-organisms in Lake Tanganyika. Freshwater Biology, 50: 1219-1232
De Wever, A., Muylaert, K., Pirlot, S., Van der Gucht, K., Cocquyt, C., Descy, J.-P., Plisnier, P.-D. & Vyverman, W. 2005. Bacterial community composition in Lake Tanganyika : vertical and horizontal heterogeneity. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71: 5029-5037.
Alleman, L.Y., D. Cardinal, C. Cocquyt, P.-D. Plisnier, J.-P.Descy, I. Kimirei, D. Sinyenza & L. André, 2005. Silicon isotopic fractionation in Lake Tanganyika and its main tributaries, Journal of Great Lakes Research, 31: 509-519.
Pirlot S., Descy J.-P. & Servais, P., 2006 Corrigendum: Correction of biomass estimates for heterotrophic micro-organisms in Lake Tanganyika. Freshwater Biology, 51: 984-985.
Naithani J., F. Darchambeau, E. Deleersnijder, J.-P. Descy and E. Wolanski, 2007. Study of the nutrient and plankton dynamics in Lake Tanganyika using a reduced-gravity model, Ecological Modelling, 200: 225-233.
Stoyneva, M. P., J.-P. Descy & W. Vyverman, 2007 Green algae in Lake Tanganyika: Is morphological variation a response to seasonal changes? Hydrobiologia, 578: 7-16.
Pirlot S., F. Unrein, J.-P.Descy & P. Servais. 2007. Fate of heterotrophic bacteria in Lake Tanganyika (East Africa). FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 62 : 354–364
Stenuite S., S. Pirlot, M.A. Hardy, H. Sarmento, A.-L. Tarbe, B. Leporcq & J.P Descy, 2007. Phytoplankton production and growth rate in Lake Tanganyika: evidence of a decline in primary productivity in recent decades. Freshwater Biology, 52: 2226–2239
De Wever, A., K.Muylaert, D. Langlet, L. Alleman, J.-P. Descy, L. André, C. Cocquyt, W. Vyverman, 2008. Differential response of phytoplankton to nitrogen, phosphorus and iron additions in Lake Tanganyika. Freshwater Biology, 53: 264-277.
Descy, J.-P. & Sarmento, H. 2008. Microorganisms of the East African Great Lakes and their response to environmental changes. Freshwater Reviews, 1: 59-73.
Stenuite, S, S. Pirlot, A.-L. Tarbe, H. Sarmento, S. Thill, , B. Leporcq, D. Sinyinza, J.-P. Descy & P. Servais 2009. Abundance and production of bacteria, and relationship to phytoplankton production, in a large tropical lake (Lake Tanganyika). Freshwater Biology, 54: 1300-1311
Plisnier P.-D., H. Mgana, I. Kimirei, A. Chande, L. Makasa, J. Chimanga, F. Zulu, C. Cocquyt, S. Horion, N. Bergamino, J. Naithani, E. Deleersnijder, L. André, J.-P. Descy & Y. Cornet. 2009. Limnological variability and pelagic fish abundance (Stolothrissa tanganicae and Lates stappersii) in Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia, 625: 117-134
Stenuite, S, A.-L. Tarbe, H. Sarmento, F. Unrein, , S. Pirlot, S. Thill, , M.Lecomte, B. Leporcq, J. Gasol & J.-P. Descy, 2009. Photosynthetic picoplankton in Lake Tanganyika: biomass distribution patterns with depth, season and basin. Journal of Plankton Research, 31: 1531-1544.
Horion S., N. Bergamino; S. Stenuite, J.-P. Descy, P.-D. Plisnier; S. A. Loiselle & Y. Cornet, 2010. Optimized extraction of daily bio-optical time series derived from MODIS/Aqua imagery for Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Remote sensing of Environment, 114: 781-791.
Bergamino, N., S. Horion, S. Stenuite, Y. Cornet, S. Loiselle, P.-D. Plisnier & J.-P. Descy, 2010. Spatio-temporal dynamics of phytoplankton and primary production in Lake Tanganyika using a MODIS based bio-optical time series. Remote sensing of Environment, 114: 772-780.
Descy, J.-P. A.-L. Tarbe, S. Stenuite, S. Pirlot, J. Stimart, J. Vanderheyden, B. Leporcq, M.P. Stoyneva, I. Kimirei, D. Sinyinza & P.-D. Plisnier, 2010. Drivers of phytoplankton diversity in Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia, 653: 29-44.
Tarbe, A. L., Stenuite, S., Balague, V., Sinyinza, D., Descy, J. P., and Massana, R. 2011. Molecular characterisation of the small-eukaryote community in a tropical Great Lake (Lake Tanganyika, East Africa). Aquatic Microbial Ecology 62: 177-190.
Tarbe, A.-L., Unrein, F., Stenuite, S., Pirlot, S., Sarmento, H., Sinyinza, D., and Descy, J. P. 2011. Protist Herbivory: a Key Pathway in the Pelagic Food Web of Lake Tanganyika. Microbial Ecology, 62: 314-323.