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The Niger River system

  • Chapter
The Ecology of River Systems

Part of the book series: Monographiae Biologicae ((MOBI,volume 60))

Abstract

The Niger, the main river draining W Africa, has been a major nucleus for human habitation for several thousand years. Rock paintings and other artefacts attest to settlement during Palaeolithic and Neolithic times. More recently a succession of kingdoms — the Sarakali Empire of Ghana (8–13th century), the Mandingo Empire of Mali (13–15th century) and the Songhai Kingdom (15th century) — all have used the Upper and Middle Niger as trade and cultural arteries. Today, the Niger River is crucial to the development of the modern nations that have arisen since the 1960s. But, despite its importance, surprisingly little coordinated ecological work has been carried out. Hydrographic data have been collected for flood control, navigation, water supply, irrigation and for planning of major dams (NEDECO 1959), but ecological data are sparse. Descriptions of the ecology of the river depend, therefore, on isolated studies such as those of Daget (e.g. 1954), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO/UN 1962, 1969, 1970, 1971) and individual Nigerian scientists. This chapter summarises these works and supplements them from the author’s personal experience.

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  1. R. L. Welcomme
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  1. Freshwater Research Group, Dept of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa

    Bryan R. Davies

  2. River Murray Research Unit, Dept of Zoology, University of Adelaide, 5000, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Keith F. Walker

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© 1986 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Welcomme, R.L., Dumont, H.L. (1986). The Niger River system. In: Davies, B.R., Walker, K.F. (eds) The Ecology of River Systems. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 60. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3290-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3290-1_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8515-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-3290-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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