Lake Nabugabo is a small freshwater lake in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Location

The lake is in Masaka District, Central Region of Uganda, approximately , by road, east of the town of Masaka.

Overview

Lake Nabugabo is a satellite lake of

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

, being only away from its shores. The area was chosen as a

Ramsar Site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

resulting from strong winds. This lake is separated from Lake Victoria by a

sand bar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...

. An analysis of a long sediment core collected near the center of the lake showed that Lake Nabugabo was isolated from Lake Victoria about 5,000 years ago.

Flora and fauna

Almost 300 plant species have been recorded. The catchment area is home to two endemic flowering plants not found elsewhere, and fourteen species in

are known only in this area. The most striking character of the rare Nabugabo plants is the relative dominance of carnivorous plants. The fauna ecosystem consists of a wide variety of key animal communities.

Hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

and

sitatunga The sitatunga or marshbuck (''Tragelaphus spekii'') is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, ...

are found. Among the birds, kingfishers and grey crowned crane are also found.The Flora and Fauna of Lake Nabugabo
/ref> Lake Nabugabo is an important stop-over point for a number of species of

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

Fish

The Nabugabo lake system, which includes the main lake itself and the associated lakes Kayanja, Kayugi and Manywa (all separated from Lake Nabugabo by swamps), is rich in native fish, notably eight species of

haplochromine __NOTOC__ The haplochromine cichlids are a tribe of cichlids in subfamily Pseudocrenilabrinae called Haplochromini. This group includes the type genus (''Haplochromis'') plus a number of closely related genera such as '' Aulonocara'', '' Astat ...

cichlids: the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Haplochromis annectidens ''Haplochromis annectidens'' is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Nabugabo in Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. I ...

'', '' H. beadlei'', '' H. simpsoni'', '' H. velifer'' and '' H. venator'', while '' H. nubilus'', ''

Astatoreochromis alluaudi Alluaud's haplo (''Astatoreochromis alluaudi'') is a species of freshwater fish in the cichlid family, Cichlidae. It is native to East Africa, where it occurs in many lakes, including Lake Victoria. This fish reaches about 19 centimeters in maxi ...

'' and ''

Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor The Egyptian mouthbrooder (''Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor'') is a species of cichlid. This small mouthbrooder reaches about in length, and is found in rivers, lakes, and other freshwater habitats in Eastern Africa from Egypt and as far south as ...

'' also are found in other lakes of the Great Lakes region. As in

, the highly predatory Nile perch has been introduced to Nabugabo. However, while many of Lake Victoria's endemic haplochromines have become extinct, the endemic haplochromines of the Nabugabo lake system all survive, but they are considered

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

. Especially ''H. annectidens'' and ''H. venator'' have become rare, with the latter appearing to have disappeared from Lake Nabugabo itself, although it does survive in at least lakes Kayanja and Kayugi. Nile perch has not been introduced to lakes Kayanja, Kayugi and Manywa, and they are important for the survival of the rare haplochromines. They also support populations of the threatened

Singida tilapia ''Oreochromis esculentus'', the Singida tilapia or Graham's tilapia, is a species of cichlid endemic to the Lake Victoria basin, including some of its satellite lakes such as Kyoga, in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. Its common name refers to ...

, which has disappeared from Nabugabo and several other lakes in the Great Lakes region. Two other species of the Great Lakes region, the widespread ''

Bagrus ''Bagrus'' is a genus of bagrid catfishes. These are relatively large catfish found in freshwater habitats in Africa, except for the virtually unknown ''B. tucumanus'' from South America, which likely is a Synonym (biology), synonym of ''Luciop ...

docmak'' and the threatened Victoria tilapia, were formerly present in Lake Nabugabo and historically supported important fisheries. They appear to have disappeared from Lake Nabugabo and are not known to be present elsewhere in the Nabugabo lake system. A handful of other fish are native to Lake Nabugabo and still live there, including marbled lungfish, ''

Mastacembelus ''Mastacembelus'' is a genus of many species of spiny eel fish from the family Mastacembelidae. They are native to Africa (c. 45 species) and Asia (c. 15 species). Most are found in rivers and associated systems (even in rapids), but there are al ...

frenatus'', ''

Enteromius ''Enteromius'' is a genus of small to medium-sized cyprinid fish native to tropical Africa. Most species were placed in the genus ''Barbus ''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is ...

'' barbs, Sadler's robber tetra, silver butter catfish, Fischer's Victoria squeaker, longnose stonebasher, Victoria stonebasher and ''

Petrocephalus ''Petrocephalus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Mormyridae. All the fish species of this genus are endemic to Africa. Species There are currently 46 recognized species in this genus: * '' Petrocephalus ansorgii'' Boulenger 1903 ( ...

catostoma''. In addition to the Nile perch, the blue-spotted tilapia, Nile tilapia,

redbreast tilapia The redbreast tilapia (''Coptodon rendalli'') is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae. It is found widely in the southern half of Africa. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and freshwater marshes. It is known as the redbreast kurper ...

and

redbelly tilapia The redbelly tilapia (''Coptodon zillii'', syn. ''Tilapia zillii''), also known as the Zille's redbreast tilapia or St. Peter's fish (a name also used for other tilapia in Israel), is a species of fish in the cichlid family. This fish is found ...

have been introduced.

References

External links

*
Lake Nabugabo Homepage
{{Hydrography of Uganda Masaka District Nabugabo Central Region, Uganda Ramsar sites in Uganda