Researchers compared river pools with high and low densities of the common hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius ) during wet and dry seasons in sub-Saharan Africa, where many watersheds, including the study site, are affected by human modification of water resources, and found that high densities of H. amphibius increased eutrophication and biodiversity loss in the pools during the dry season; however, high and low density pools exhibited no changes in water chemistry or biodiversity during the wet season, highlighting how humans might influence the role of ecologically influential species in watersheds.
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Article #18-00407: "Effects of the hippopotamus on the chemistry and ecology of a changing watershed," by Keenan Stears et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Keenan Stears, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA; tel: 805-280-8553; e-mail: < keenanstears@ucsb.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences