University Lake Kariba Research

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Doctor Crispen Phir

 

Profile: Crispen Phiri obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Biological Sciences in 1996 and an MSc degree in tropical resource ecology in 1998 from the University of Zimbabwe. He was employed for a short while as an aquatic ecologist in the Zimbabwean Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management (now the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority) before joining the University of Zimbabwe as a research fellow at the university’s Lake Kariba Research Station in 2002. He obtained his PhD in Zoology from the University of Cape Town in 2010. His research interests are in the assessment of biotic and abiotic factors that structure invertebrate communities in freshwater systems such as dams, wetlands, temporal rivers, pools and pans, as well as the possible impacts of global climate change on freshwater systems

 

 

 

Research Items:

 

  1. a.Crispen Phiri, Albert Chakona & Jenny A Day. 2011. The effect of plant density on epiphytic macroinvertebrates associated with a submerged macrophyte, Lagarosiphon ilicifolius Obermeyer, in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Aquatic Science, 36:3, 289-297.
  2. b.Crispen Phiri, Albert Chakona & Jenny Day. 2011. Aquatic insects associated with two morphologically different submerged macrophytes, Lagarosiphon ilicifolius and Vallisneria aethiopica, in small fishless ponds. Aquatic Ecology 45:405–416.
  3. c.Albert Chakona, Crispen Phiri & Jenny A. Day. 2009. Potential for Trichoptera communities as biological indicators of morphological degradation in riverine systems. Hydrobiologia 621:155–167.
  4. d.Albert Chakona, Crispen Phiri, Tendayi Chinamaringa & Nikite Muller. 2009. Changes in biota along a dry-land river in northwestern Zimbabwe: declines and improvements in river health related to land use. Aquatic Ecology 43: 1095-1106.
  5. e.Albert Chakona, Crispen Phiri, Christopher H. D. Magadza & Luc Brendonck. 2008. The influence of habitat structure and flow permanence on macroinvertebrate assemblages in temporary rivers in northwestern Zimbabwe. Hydrobiologia 607:199–209.
  6. f.Crispen Phiri, Jenny Day, Moses Chimbari & Elmon Dhlomo. 2007. Epiphytic diatoms associated with a submerged macrophyte, Vallisneria aethiopica, in the shallow marginal areas of Sanyati Basin (Lake Kariba): a preliminary assessment of their use as biomonitoring tools. Aquatic Ecology 41:169–181.
  7. g.Ngonidzashe A. G. Moyo & Crispen Phiri. 2002. The degradation of an urban stream in Harare, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Ecology 40: 401–406.
  8. h.Brendonck, L., Maes, J., Rommen, W., Dekeza, N., Nhiwatiwa, T., Barson, M., Callebaut, V., Phiri, C., Moreau, K., Gratwicke, B., Stevens, M., Alyn, N., Holsters, E., Ollevier, F., Marshall, B. 2003. The impact of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in a eutrophic impoundment (Lake Chivero, Zimbabwe). II. Species diversity. Arch. Hydrobiol. 158, 389 – 405.
  9. i.Crispen Phiri. 2000. An assessment of the health of two rivers within Harare, Zimbabwe, on the basis of macroinvertebrate community structure and selected physicochemical variables. African Journal of Aquatic Science 25: 134–145.
  10. j.Crispen Phiri, Albert Chakona, Godwin Mupandawana & Jenny Day. Acute toxicity of nitrite to a freshwater crustacean, Cyclestheria hislopi (Cyclestheriidae, Conchostraca). (Accepted, Journal of Water Resource & Protection).
  11. k.Crispen Phiri, Albert Chakona, Jenny Day. Macroinvertebrates associated with two submerged macrophytes, Lagarosiphon ilicifolius Obermeyer and Vallisneria aethiopica Frenzl in Sanyati Basin, Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe: effect of plant morphological complexity. (Submitted)
  12. l.Crispen Phiri, Albert Chakona & Jenny Day. Body-size distribution, biomass estimates and life histories of common insect taxa associated with a submerged macrophyte, Lagarosiphon ilicifolius Obermeyer, in Sanyati Basin, Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. (Submitted).
  13. m.Crispen Phiri, Morris Z. Mtsambiwa & Jenny Day. The critical thermal maximum of Ceriagrion glabrum (Burmeister, 1839) (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) naiads. (Submitted).
  14. n.Crispen Phiri. A review of aquatic organisms other than the fish community in Lake Kariba. (Submitted)
  15. o.Crispen Phiri & Jenny A. Day. An assessment of short-term survivorship of Ischnura (Odonata Coenagrionidae) naiads at different densities of juvenile fish (Oreochromis niloticus). (Draft Manuscript)
  16. p.Crispen Phiri, Albert Chakona & Jenny A Day. The effect of fish predation on epiphytic macroinvertebrates on two submerged macrophytes Lagarosiphon ilicifolius and Vallisneria aethiopica: a pilot study in small ponds. (Draft Manuscript)

 

 

 

Services offered

 

 

 

Consultancy services

 

HIV and AIDS prevention Peer Education program

 

Supervision of Post and Undergraduate students.