2025: Guiding Biodiversity Protection & Aquaculture Siting in Lake Tanganyika Using eDNA (TNC)
Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa is a global hotspot of freshwater biodiversity, hosting more than 2,000 aquatic species. The lake is also an important source of human nutrients, with a growing aquaculture industry. Intense fishing pressure, tilapia farms and nearby deforestation all threaten the lake’s biodiversity. Ecosystem protection efforts, such as fishery management zones and reserves, are localized efforts, hindering lake-wide conservation planning. This project will leverage environmental DNA (eDNA) – low-impact genetic testing of water samples – to survey species across the Tanganyika coastline. Pilot work by scientists at Cornell University and The Nature Conservancy demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach, and in this next phase researchers will broaden their sampling to the entire Tanzanian coast (420 km).
Cornell: Peter McIntyre and Jared Freeman (both Cornell CALS/Natural Resources and the Environment)
TNC: Colin Apse, Tuyeni Mwampamba