Wetlands of South Africa
Abstract
Escalating rates of urbanization, industrialization and population growth have aggravated the significance of water pollution as a threat to the persistence of South Africa's wetland resources. Of the extremely wide range of water-borne pollutants, nutrients, sediments, acidic compounds, salts, heavy metals and biocides are considered most significant in terms of their impact on wetlands and their biota. Although dissimilarities in the response of the wetland ecosystem to each of these pollutants are recognized (and described), a common response is also acknowledged. This response involves the alteration of the physico-chemical properties of the wetland substrates (sediment and water) by the water-borne pollutant, the elimination of less tolerant organisms and the subsequent proliferation of tolerant species due to a release from predation pressure and/or resource competition, leading ultimately to the extinction of the ecosystem. The paper, furthermore, highlights the challenges faced in the management of water pollution in semi-arid aquatic systems and the need for research in order to face these challenges.
GI Cowan (ed).1995.
Water pollution in South Africa: its impact on wetland biota
MAS Coetzee
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