The Bottom Fauna of the Rapids of the Black Volta River in Ghana
The construction of the Akosombo dam in Ghana changed the environment over a large section of the Volta River from riverine to lacustrine. This resulted in the destruction of the original communities of the bottom fauna and its replacement by one typical of stagnant water (PETR, 1969). The fauna prevailing in rapids and other habitats exposed to permanent and strong water currents was presumably completely destroyed, while the fauna of the riverine flats, pools and backwaters served as a reservoir for colonization of the Volta Lake. The community of bottom invertebrates in rapids have been studied with the aim of obtaining any basic information on its composition, abundance and standing crop; this could be later used for a comparison with the data on bottom fauna of the man-made Volta Lake.
