Inland Water Science & Limnology
KMFRI's Freshwater Systems Laboratory network supports comprehensive research on Kenya's inland waters - the Great Lakes (Victoria, Turkana, Baringo, Naivasha), highland rivers, and small water bodies. Research focuses on water quality, fish biodiversity, pollution monitoring, and the impacts of climate change on Kenya's critical freshwater ecosystems and the livelihoods they support.
Research Focus Areas
Water Quality Analysis
Physicochemical characterisation of lake and river water, including nutrients, heavy metals, fluoride, and pollution load assessments.
Fish Biodiversity
Species composition surveys, population structure analyses, and monitoring of endemic and invasive species in Kenya's freshwater systems.
Sediment Analysis
Bottom sediment characterisation, contaminant profiling, and paleolimnological studies to reconstruct historic ecosystem change.
Aquatic Invertebrates
Benthic invertebrate and zooplankton surveys used as bioindicators of water quality and ecosystem health in freshwater habitats.
Key Analytical Equipment
- UV-Vis spectrophotometers
- Atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS)
- Ion chromatograph
- Fluoride analyser
- Compound & inverted microscopes
- Plankton counting chambers
- Dissection kits & zooplankton nets
- Sediment corer
- YSI multiparameter sonde
- Van Dorn water samplers
- Ekman grab sampler
- Portable turbidity meters