Following a description of the Nile, the longest river of the world (ca 6,800 km) and its basin (2.9 × 106 km2), including its various “source” lakes, some brief notes on its main neighbours (Congo and Logone-Chari) and their history are given. The biota of the basin are moderately diverse, and endemism tends to be low, except in some of the “old” source lakes. The situation is complicated by the fact that at least two of these lakes (Victoria and Tana) dried out around or slightly before the beginning of the Holocene, and thereafter, speciation (especially of cichlid fish) may have happened at an unusually great speed.
In general, the Nile offers a pathway for African species to extend from the tropics to a Mediterranean climate and spill over into the Levant and Arabia. Such incursions may have happened many times across history, with some of the older “waves” using the Red Sea (before its opening to the Indian Ocean) rather than the Nile.
Currently, as elsewhere in the world, invasive species in the Nile are becoming more and more common, although the oldest cases (some Ponto-Caspian cnidarians) may date back to the end of the nineteenth century. The water hyacinth Eichhornia has invaded the Nile basin in at least three different zones.
Since early pharaonic times, man has interfered with the river and its flow regime, in an effort to control the yearly “flood of a hundred days”, but large-scale damming only started in the nineteenth century, and culminated with the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, reducing the river to a giant irrigation canal. More recent developments include the construction of the Toshka lakes diverticle to Lake Nasser, a project with an uncertain future.
The river and its lakes are important fisheries resources; the various dams are generating large amounts of power, and fossil hydrocarbon deposits are under development in at least three zones of the basin. This may contribute to river pollution, which is still a local phenomenon, except in Lake Victoria, which suffers from eutrophication, and in Egypt, that combines a population explosion (almost four doublings in the last century) with a substantial industrial development.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adamson, D. & F. Williams, 1980. Structural geology, tectonics, and the control of drainage in the Nile basin. In M. A. J. Williams & H. Faure (eds), The Sahara and the Nile, pp. 225–252. Balkema, Rotterdam.
Allan, J. A., 2009. Nile basin asymmetries: a closed fresh water resource, soil waters potential, the political economy, and Nile transboundary hydropolitics. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 749–770. Springer, Dordrecht.
Bailey, R. G., 1986. The Zaire River System. In B. R. Davies & K. F. Walker (eds), The Ecology of River Systems. Monographie Biologicae 60: 201–214. Junk, The Hague.
Beadle, L. C., 1981. The Inland Waters of Tropical Africa. An Introduction to Tropical Limnology. Second edition. Longman, London/New York, 475 pp.
Ben Tuvia, A., 1978. Fishes. In C. Serruya (ed.), Lake Kinneret. Monographiae Biologicae 32: 407–430. Junk, The Hague.
Camberlin, P., 2009. Nile basin climates. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 307–333. Springer, Dordrecht.
Cumberlidge, N., 2009. Freshwater crabs and shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda) of the Nile basin. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 547–561. Springer, Dordrecht.
Degefu, G. T., 2003. The Nile: Historical, Legal and Developmental Perspectives. Trafford Publishing, New York, 428 pp.
Dgebuadze, Y. Y., A. S. Golubtsov, V. N. Mikheev & M. V. Mina, 1994. Four fish species new to the Omo-Turkana basin, with comments on the distribution of Nemacheilus abyssinicus (Cypriniformes: Balitoridae) in Ethiopia. Hydrobiologia 286: 125–128.
Dimentman, C., H. J. Bromley & F. D. Por, 1992. Lake Hula: Reconstruction of the Fauna and Hydrobiology of a Lost Lake. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 170 pp.
Dumont, H. J., 1979. Limnologie van Sahara en Sahel. D.Sci. Thesis, Ghent University, Ghent, 557 pp.
Dumont, H. J., 1986. The Lake Tanganyika sardine in Lake Kivu: another ecodisaster for Africa? Environmental Conservation 13: 143–148.
Dumont, H. J., 1988. On the composition and palaeoecological significance of the odonate fauna of Darfur, Western Sudan. Odonatologica 17: 385–392.
Dumont, H. J., 2009. Aquatic insects of the Nile basin, with emphasis on the Odonata. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 631–646. Springer, Dordrecht.
Dumont, H. J. & G. I. El-Shabrawy, 2007. Lake Borullus of the Nile Delta: a short history and an uncertain future. Ambio 36: 677–682.
Dumont, H. J. & D. Verschuren, 2005. Odonata from the Ennedi and Ounianga regions of northern Chad, with a note on the status of Orthetrum kollmannspergeri Buchholz, and a checklist of species currently known from the Republic of Chad. Odonatologica 34: 291–297.
Eggermont, H., K. Van Damme & J. M. Russell, 2009. Rwenzori mountains (Mountains of the Moon): headwaters of the White Nile. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 243–261. Springer, Dordrecht.
El-Sheekh, M., 2009. River Nile pollutants and their effect on organisms and water quality. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 395–405. Springer, Dordrecht.
El-Shabrawy, G. I., 2009. Lake Nasser-Nubia. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 125–155. Springer, Dordrecht.
El-Shabrawy, G. I. & H. J. Dumont, 2009a. The Fayum Depression and its Lakes. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 95–124. Springer, Dordrecht.
El-Shabrawy, G. & H. J. Dumont, 2009b. The Toshka lakes. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 157–162. Springer, Dordrecht.
Fryer, G., 2005. Speciation rates in lakes and the enigma of Lake Victoria. Hydrobiologia 519: 167–183.
Green, J. 2009a. The Kyoga catchment. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 205–214. Springer, Dordrecht.
Green, J., 2009b. Nilotic Lakes of the Western Rift. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 263–286. Springer, Dordrecht.
Green, J. & A. I. El-Moghraby, 2009. Swamps of the Upper White Nile. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 193–204. Springer, Dordrecht.
Greenwood, P. H., 1976. Fish fauna of the Nile. In J. Rzóska (ed.), The Nile: Biology of an Ancient River. Monographiae Biologicae 29: 127–141.
Hamdan, G., 1970. A study in the genius of a place. Anglo-Egyptian bookshop, Cairo (in Arabic).
Hamza, W., 2009. The Nile delta. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 75–94. Springer, Dordrecht.
Ibrahim, A. M., 1984. The Nile: description, hydrology, control and utilization. Hydrobiologia 110: 1–13.
Johnson, T. C. & J. O. Malala, 2009. Lake Turkana and its link to the Nile. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 287–304. Springer, Dordrecht.
Johnson, T. C., C. A. Scholz, M. R. Talbot, K. Kelts, R. D. Ricketts, G. Ngobi, K. Beuning, I. Ssemmanda & J. W. McGill, 1996. Late Pleistocene desiccation of Lake Victoria and rapid evolution of cichlid fishes. Science 273: 1091–1093.
Johnson, T. C., K. Kelts & E. Odada, 2000. The Holocene history of Lake Victoria. Ambio 29: 2–11.
Kampunzu, A. B., M. G. Bonhomme & M. Kanika, 1998. Geochronology of volcanic rocks and evolution of the Cenozoic western branch of the East African Rift system. Journal of African Earth Sciences 26: 441–461.
Kinzelbach, R., F. Krupp & W. Schneider, 1987. TAVO A VI 12. Levante-Hydrofauna. Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients der Universität Tübingen. Reichert, Verlag, Wiesbaden.
Kuper, R. & S. Kröpelin, 2006. Climate-controlled Holocene occupation in the Sahara: motor of Africa's evolution. Science 313: 803–807.
Lamb, H. F., C. R. Bates, P. V. Coombes, M. H. Marshall, M. Umer, S. J. Davies & E. Dejen, 2007. Late Pleistocene desiccation of Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile. Quaternary Research 26: 287–299.
Le Berre, M., 1989. Faune du Sahara 1. Poissons-Amphibiens-Reptiles. Lechevalier-R. Chabaud, Paris, 332 pp.
Lehman, J. T., 2009. Lake Victoria. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 215–241. Springer, Dordrecht.
Lévêque, C., 1990. Relict tropical fish fauna in Central Sahara. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwater 1: 39–48.
Lévêque, C., 1997. Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation: The Freshwater Fish of Tropical Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Lipiatou, E., R. E. Hecky, S. J. Eisenreich, L. Lockhart & P. Wilkinson, 1996. Recent ecosystem changes in Lake Victoria reflected in sedimentary natural and anthropogenic organic compounds, pp. 523–541. In T. C. Johnson & E. Odada (eds), The Limnology, Climatology and Paleoclimatology of the East African lakes. Gordon & Breach.
Morris, P., M. J. Largen & D. W. Yalden, 1976. Notes on the biogeography of the Blue Nile (Great Abbai) Gorge in Ethiopia. In J. Rzóska (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae 29: 233–242.
Mwanja, W. M., A. S. Armoudlian, S. B. Wandera, L. Kaufman, L. Wu, G. C. Booton & P. A. Fuerst, 2001. The bounty of minor lakes: the role of small satellite water bodies in evolution and conservation of fishes in the Lake Victoria Region, East Africa. Hydrobiologia 458: 55–62.
Nagl, S., H. Tichy, W. E. Mayer, N. Takezaki, N. Takahata & J. Klein, 2000. The origin and age of fishes in Lake Victoria, East Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 267: 1049–1061.
Rabeh, S. A., 2009. Bacteria and viruses of the Nile. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 407–430. Springer, Dordrecht.
Rzóska, J. (ed.), 1976. The Nile: Biology of an ancient river. Monographiae Biologicae 29: 417 pp. Junk, The Hague.
Said, R., 1981. The Geological Evolution of the River Nile. Springer, New York, 151 pp.
Schneider, W., 1987. The genus Pseudagrion Selys, 1876 in the Middle East — A zoogeographic outline (Insecta: Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des vorderen Orients A28: 114–123.
Schneider, W. & H. J. Dumont, 1997. The dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) of Oman. An updated and annotated checklist. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 16: 89–110.
Sioli, H. (ed.), 1984. The Amazon: Limnology and landscape ecology of a mighty tropical river and its basin. Monographiae Biologicae 56: 763 pp. Junk, The Hague.
Stager, J. C. & T. C. Johnson, 2008. The Late Pleistocene desiccation of Lake Victoria and the origin of its endemic biota. Hydrobiologia 596: 5–16.
Stewart, K. M., 2009. Fossil fish from the Nile River and its southern basins. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 677–704. Springer, Dordrecht.
Sutcliffe, J. V., 2009. The Hydrology of the Nile Basin. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 335–364. Springer, Dordrecht.
Tudorancea, C. & W. D. Taylor, 2002. Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes, 289 pp. Backhuys, Leiden.
Van Damme, D. & M. Pickford, 2003. The late Cenozoic Thiaridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Cerithioidea) of the Albertine Rift Valley (Uganda-Congo) and their bearing on the origin and evolution of the Tanganyikan thalassoid malacofauna. Hydrobiologia 498: 1–83.
Van Damme, D. & B. Van Bocxlaer, 2009. Freshwater molluscs of the Nile Basin, past and present. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 585–629. Springer, Dordrecht.
Van Neer, W., 1988. Fish remains from a Holocene site (84:13–9) in Wadi Howar, Sudan. Archaeozoologica 2: 339–348.
Van Neer, W., 1989. Holocene fish remains from the Sahara. Sahara 2: 61–68.
Verheyen, E., N. Salzburger, J. Snoeks & A. Meyer, 2003. Origin of the superflock of cichlid fishes from Lake Victoria, East Africa. Science 300: 325–329.
Vijverberg, J., F. A. Sibbing & E. Dejen, 2009. Lake Tana: Source of the Blue Nile. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 163–192. Springer, Dordrecht.
Waterbury, J., 1979. Hydropolitics of the Nile Valley. Syracuse University Press, New York, 301 pp.
Wickens, G. E., 1976. The flora of Jebel Marra (Sudan Republic) and its geographical affinities. Kew Bulletin Additional Series 5: 368 pp.
Witte, F., M. van Oijen & N. Sibbing, 2009a. Fish Fauna of the Nile. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 647–675. Springer, Dordrecht.
Witte, F., M. de Graaf, O. Mkumbo, A. I. El-Moghraby & F. Sibbing, 2009b. Fisheries. In H. J. Dumont (ed.), The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 89: 723–747. Springer, Dordrecht.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dumont, H.J. (2009). A Description of the Nile Basin, and a Synopsis of Its History, Ecology, Biogeography, Hydrology, and Natural Resources. In: Dumont, H.J. (eds) The Nile. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 89. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9725-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9726-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)