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The Volta River system

  • Chapter
The Ecology of River Systems

Part of the book series: Monographiae Biologicae ((MOBI,volume 60))

Abstract

The Volta River Basin in West Africa is within the great meander of the Niger River and includes Bourkina Fasso (formerly Upper Volta), Ghana and small parts of Ivory Coast, Mali, Togo and Benin (Fig. 1). The climate is tropical, with an average temperature of 25° C and seasons characterised either by moist SW winds or the dry NE “Harmattan”. Seasons vary within the basin: a small part of the SW, covered in tropical forest, experiences four distinct seasons, while the remainder has two seasons. The rains reach their peak in August, lasting six months in the south (May-October) and four months in the north (June-September). The average rainfall is 800 mm a−1, with over 1500 mm in the SW uplands and 500 mm in the N catchment.

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  1. T. Petr
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Freshwater Research Group, Dept of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa

    Bryan R. Davies

  2. River Murray Research Unit, Dept of Zoology, University of Adelaide, 5000, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Keith F. Walker

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Petr, T. (1986). The Volta River system. In: Davies, B.R., Walker, K.F. (eds) The Ecology of River Systems. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 60. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3290-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3290-1_5

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