Assessing Waterhole Quality in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve

Laurene van Dijk assessed waterhole quality on a recent trip to Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in the Northern Cape, where she conducted fieldwork for her honours project. She aims to assess how waterhole construction in semi-arid regions might increase the potential for toxic blue-green algal blooms. As temperatures increase and surface water becomes less available due to unpredictable rainfall events associated with climate change, animals will need to visit artificial waterholes more regularly. In addition to determining which animals wade into the water to drink, thereby often contributing nutrients required for algal blooms, Laurene aims to assess which species might be at higher risk of effects from algal blooms when utilizing those waterbodies.