Funding Organisation: British Ecological Society (Ecologists in Africa, EA20/1246, 2020)
The Ikogosi Warm Spring is reputed to be the only site in the world where warm and cold springs flow side by side and form a confluence. Hence, it is a popular ecotourism destination in Nigeria as a result of its rarity and very natural environment. Like many of such sites in Nigeria, there was no account of the site’s freshwater biodiversity or how aquatic animals therein responded to the natural thermal stress. To bridge this gap, our team conducted a year-long study on the site from 2019 to 2020. Generally, the site had good physical and chemical water quality, except at the warm spring. However, the biological water quality of the entire site was not typical of a natural environment of its kind due to the natural thermal stress. We recommended that the naturalness of the site be preserved as much as possible by the relevant authorities so that the ecological condition of its freshwater system is not further impaired in addition to the natural thermal stress.
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