Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13

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Limnologica
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/limno

Seasonal and spatial variation in suspended matter, organic carbon,

nitrogen, and nutrient concentrations of the Senegal River in
West Africa
Mamadou L. Mbaye a,b,∗ , Amadou T. Gaye a , Alejandro Spitzy c , Kirstin Dähnke d ,
Abel Afouda b , Birgit Gaye c
a
Laboratoire de Physique de L’Atmosphére et de l’océan, Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, 5085 Dakar-Fann, Senegal
b
Université Abomey Calavi, Laboratoire d‘Hydrologie Appliquée, WASCAL, Benin
c
Institute for Geology, University of Hamburg, Bundesstraße 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
d
Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Zentrum für Material- und Küstenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Straße 1, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Senegal River is of intermediate size accommodating at present about 3.5 million inhabitants in its
Received 29 April 2015 catchment. Its upstream tributaries flow through different climatic zones from the wet tropics in the
Received in revised form source area in Guinea to the dry Sahel region at the border between Senegal and Mauritania. Total sus-
21 November 2015
pended matter, particulate and dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen as well as nutrient concentrations
Accepted 11 December 2015
were determined during the dry and wet seasons at 19 locations from the up- to downstream river basin.
Available online 19 January 2016
The aims of the study were to evaluate the degree of human interference, to determine the dissolved and
particulate river discharges into the coastal sea and to supply data to validate model results. Statistical
Keywords:
Senegal River
analyses showed that samples from the wet and dry season are significantly different in composition
Suspended matter and that the upstream tributaries differ mainly in their silicate and suspended matter contents. Nutri-
Nutrients ent concentrations are relatively low in the river basin, indicating low human impact. Increasing nitrate
Particulate organic carbon concentrations, however, show the growing agriculture in the irrigated downstream areas. Particulate
Dissolved organic carbon organic matter is dominated by C4 plants during the wet season and by aquatic plankton during the
dry season. The total suspended matter (TSM) discharge at the main gauging station Bakel was about
1.93 Tg yr−1 which is in the range of the only available literature data from the 1980s. The calculated
annual discharges of particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved
organic nitrogen (DON) are 55.8 Gg yr−1 , 54.1 Gg yr−1 , and 5.3 Gg yr−1 , respectively. These first estimates
from the Senegal River need to be verified by further studies.
© 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Anthropogenic activities have modified quantity and quality of
river discharge for about 3000 years (Anthony et al., 2014). A first
amplification of human impact led to a strong increase of riverine
sediment load about 1000 years ago and a second amplification
started decreasing sediment load in most river basins about 100
years ago (Syvitski and Kettner, 2011). Observational data covering
1945 to 2004 document a net decrease of continental freshwa-
ter discharge which is correlated with a reduction in precipitation
(Dai et al., 2009). Additional anthropogenic induced water loss
∗ Corresponding author at: Laboratoire de Physique de L’Atmosphére et de l’océan,
Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique, 5085 Dakar-Fann, Senegal.
E-mail address: mamadoulamine.mbaye@ucad.edu.sn (M.L. Mbaye).
has occurred in rivers with strong flow regulation and irrigation
(Milliman et al., 2008). The variations in dissolved and particu-
late river discharge are more significant than the changes in water
discharge. Many rivers experienced a significant increase of sus-
pended matter discharge related to deforestation and land use
change beginning with the early human interference. Around 1950
urbanization and dam building led to a net decrease of sediment
transport (Syvitski and Kettner, 2011). This reduction of suspended
matter export to estuaries and coastal seas in concert with sea
level rise and ground water extraction has evoked fast drowning
of deltas of which most are densely populated accommodating 500
million people worldwide (Giosan et al., 2014). Increasing nutrient
concentrations as well as the release of inorganic and organic pol-
lutants has further changed biogeochemical processes in rivers and
coastal seas and is very problematic in regions where rivers are used
for drinking water as well as irrigation, and industrial purposes

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2015.12.003
0075-9511/© 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
2 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13
(Mouri et al., 2011; Lipp et al., 2001; Jiménez, 2003; Maya et al.,
2003; WHO, 2004). Eutrophication facilitates harmful algal blooms
in many coastal areas and models predict enhanced nutrient dis-
charges due to growing anthropogenic impact (Struijk and Kroeze,
2010; Yasin et al., 2010). Whereas water discharge data are avail-
able for many African rivers, the database of sediment discharges
and especially of biogenic elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phos-
phorous and silica is poor (Yasin et al., 2010). Thus, base line data are
missing to evaluate the degree of human interference. Moreover,
data are lacking to validate model results and predict the impact
of changing river discharges on coastal oceans (Beusen et al., 2005;
McCrackin et al., 2014).
The Senegal River is among the 30 world’s largest drainage
basins (Potter et al., 2004). At present about 3.5 million people
inhabit its catchment; due to rapid population growth this may
double in the coming decades (OMVS, 2007). The majority of the
basin’s people, particularly the rural, highly rely on the exploitation
of largely water-dependent natural resources (traditional agricul-
ture, fisheries, livestock farming). In addition, most of the people
living alongside the river use its water directly without treat-
ment (e.g. domestic usage, recreation); this increases the risk of
water-borne diseases. Moreover, the water is used for irrigated
agriculture, hydropower generation, water navigation, drinking
water industries, and foodstuffs industries.
Water discharge has been measured at the gauging station Bakel
since 1903 and was found to fluctuate in accordance with the peri-
odicity of Sahelian rainfall (Faure and Gac, 1981; Hubert et al., 2007;
Kattan et al., 1987). Dam building in the late 1980s has induced
studies of changes of the agricultural systems in the upstream
river basin (Rasmussen et al., 1999), of the morphology of the river
mouth (Barusseau et al., 1995, 1998), and of the plankton assem-
blage (Monteillet et al., 1993). Most chemical and biological studies
were carried out in the lagoon and river mouth at Saint Louis and
discussed the consequences of dam building and the artificial open-
ing of a new river mouth in 2003 (Baklouti et al., 2011; Bouvy et al.,
2006, 2010; Ka et al., 2011; Quiblier et al., 2008; Troussellier et al.,
2004, 2005). There is currently a lack of data on the composition of
particulate and dissolved river discharge and no database on water
quality particularly in upstream tributaries (OMVS, 2007).
In this study, we attempt to supply base line information on
dissolved and particulate river discharge and on water quality of
the Senegal River. Samples were taken during three sampling cam-
paigns along the river from its three major upstream tributaries
to downstream stations at the river mouth. The main objectives of
this work are: (i) to determine inorganic nutrients (nitrate, nitrite,
ammonia, phosphate, silicate), DOC and DON concentrations as
indicators of the trophic state and human interference (Seitzinger
et al., 2005); (ii) to understand the major mechanisms controlling
the sources and concentrations (De Brabandere et al., 2002; Paolini
and Ittekkot, 1990; Voss and Struck, 1997; Coynel et al., 2005) of
TSM, POC, particulate nitrogen (PN) and their stable isotopic ratios
(␦13 C, ␦15 N) during the wet and dry seasons; (iii) and finally, to
give quantitative estimates of TSM, POC, PN, DOC, DON, dissolved
inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved inorganic phosphorous (DIP)
and dissolved silicate (DSi) fluxes at the gauging stations in order
to quantify the discharge to the Atlantic. A better understanding
of the seasonal and spatial variability in water quality will help to
formulate effective water resource management to reduce water
pollution.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Study area
The Senegal River Basin is the second major river basin in West
Africa (Fig. 1). From its source in Guinea, it flows through the
western Sahel region in Mali, Mauritania and Senegal and opens
into the sea at Saint Louis. Its catchment has an area of about
300,000 km2 and it has a length of 1800 km (OMVS, 2009). The basin
is subject to a large north–south precipitation gradient ranging
from 150 mm yr−1 in the north to more than 1650 mm yr−1 in the
south (Fig. 2). The predominantly natural vegetation of the region
follows this rainfall gradient, ranging from sub-humid forest in the
south to semi-arid savannah in the north (Stisen et al., 2008). Peak
discharge occurs in September with a maximum of 1700 m3 s−1
at the gauging stations Bakel and Matam (Senegal River; Fig. 3).
The lowest discharge values are obtained at the upstream gauging
stations Kidira, Gourbassi, and Fadougou in the Faleme tributary
(Fig. 3). The three main tributaries (Bafing, Bakoye and Faleme)
ensure over 80% of the Senegal River’s flow of which the Bafing
transfers half. The gauging station Bakel after the confluence of
the river Senegal and the Faleme is used in the literature as the
reference station for discharge estimates (Kattan et al., 1987).
Part of the upstream Senegal River and its tributaries Bafing
and Bakoye pass through Precambrian sandstone deposits, lower
Cambrian schisto-dolomitic deposits, and Palaeozoic metamorphic
rocks, mainly composed of schists and quartzites from a volcano-
sedimentary complex and granites (Michel, 1973). Downstream
the Senegal River is bordered by Holocene fluvio-deltaic deposits
composed of fine sands, silts and clays, surrounded by stabilized so-
called red dunes (Michel et al., 1993). Surface runoff in the region
of these soft sediments has a suspended matter concentration of
∼1 g L−1 and is responsible for 50–80% of the riverine suspended
load via slope erosion. In the river bed, this suspended load is
diluted by subsurface and groundwater discharge (Kattan et al.,
1987).
Human impact has increased considerably since the 1970s when
the natural flooding of the banks ceased due to droughts and irri-
gated areas were rapidly created and replaced the natural flood
receding agriculture (OMVS, 2007; Rasmussen et al., 1999). Dam
building further impacted the river in the late 1980s.
The Manantali dam with a reservoir capacity of 11.5 × 109 m3
was functional in 1988. It was constructed to store water for
irrigation during the dry season, to attenuate extreme floods and
to generate hydropower (OMVS, 2009). This damming has further
added to upstream discharge reduction and withdrawal of the flood
receding agriculture (Rasmussen et al., 1999). The Diama dam is
located 23 km from Saint Louis near the River mouth in the delta
(Diene, 2012). It was functional in 1986 and was built to block sea-
water intrusion which had extended more than 200 km upstream in
the dry season prior to dam building (Monteillet et al., 1993). Water
upstream of the Diama dam can be used for irrigation which has
facilitated population growth and intensified land use and has aug-
mented eutrophication and pollution in the estuary (Troussellier
et al., 2004, 2005). Further eutrophication occurred after an artifi-
cial breach of a sand bar shortened the estuary by 30 km favoring
intrusion of salt water which is strongly nutrient enriched dur-
ing the upwelling season (Baklouti et al., 2011). The data used in
Figs. 2 and 3 are taken from OMVS (Organization in charge of the
management of the Senegal River Basin).
2.2. Sampling
Dry season sampling was done during December 2012 and
March 2013 and wet season sampling during July 2012 (one sam-
ple) and August 2013 from upstream to downstream (Table 1;
Supplementary material). Water samples were taken at 19 loca-
tions (Fig. 1) with a syringe at midstream where maximum mixing
occurs. Filters were air dried and the filtrates were stored in plas-
tic bottles and cooled with ice during transport to the laboratory
where they were deep frozen before analyses. Sediment samples
were taken from the river bank at each location and were air
 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13 3

Fig. 1. Senegal River Basin with sampling locations (stations with “+”), rainfall stations (stations with “*”) and stations that are both sampling and rainfall (stations with “*+”).

dried before analyses. Some upstream sampling stations were not
accessible during the wet season due to flooding and some sam-
ple amounts were too small for analyses, especially from the dry
season. Therefore, there are data gaps at these stations.
2.3. Analytical methods
Pre weighed Whatman GF/F glass fiber filters with a pore size
of about 0.7 ␮m were used for TSM determination. The filtered
volume ranged from 20 mL to 105 mL. After filtration, the filters
were put into a plastic box and dried at outside temperature by
leaving the lid open for about one mm. TSM concentrations were
calculated after weighing the samples in the home laboratory. Dou-
ble to triple sampling was carried out during the wet season and had
an average standard deviation of 11% (range 0.2–33%). The filters
and sediment samples were used for quantification of particulate
carbon (PC) and PN by using a Carlo Erba Nitrogen Analyser 1500.
The PC of all filter samples represents POC because no weight loss

Fig. 2. Annual mean of precipitation at river stations from up- to downstream, averaged for the period from 1981 to 1990.
4 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13
Fig. 3. Seasonal cycle of river discharge at five gauging stations as monthly means averaged for the period from 1984 to 2009.
was found after acidification. The analytical precisions are 0.05% for
carbon and 0.005% for nitrogen.
If enough material was available on the filters, an aliquot of the
filters could be used to determine stable isotopic ratios of nitrogen
(␦15 N) and organic carbon (␦13 C). These were determined using
a Delta Plus XP isotope ratio mass spectrometer connected with
a ConFlo-III interface after high-temperature flash combustion in
a Thermo Finnigan Flash EA 1112 at 1050 ◦ C (Gaye et al., 2013).
The relative abundance of the heavy and light isotope of nitro-
gen (15 N/14 N) and carbon (13 C/12 C) are calculated according to the
following formula:
  
Rsample
ıX(in ‰) = − 1 × 1000
Rstandard
where X = 15 N or 13 C and R = 15 N/14 N or 13 C/12 C.
The N2 was calibrated against the reference standards IAEA-N1
(ammonium sulfate, ␦15 N = +0.4‰) and IAEA-N2 (ammonium sul-
fate, ␦15 N = +20.3‰) of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
␦15 N is given as the per mil deviation from the N-isotope com-
position of atmospheric N2 . Duplicate measurements of samples
differ less than 0.1‰ for sediment samples and less than 0.3‰ for
suspended matter. The laboratory’s long-term 2 standard devi-
ation for IAEA-N-1 is 0.09 (Bahlmann et al., 2010). For the ␦13 C
analyses, carbonates (if present) were removed by HCl (1 N) and
the results are given as the per mil deviation from the isotopic
composition of the Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard. Working
standards were IAEA-CH6 and saccharose with a ␦13 C of −26.3‰.
Duplicate measurements of samples deviate by less than 0.15‰ for
sediment samples and by less than 0.3‰ for suspended matter sam-
ples because of inhomogeneous particle coverage of filters (Nagel
et al., 2009).
Nutrient samples were measured with a Bran & Luebbe auto-
analyzer by applying standard methods. This included reduction
of nitrate to nitrite with a cadmium reduction column and subse-
quent reaction to an azo dye with N-(1-naphtyl-)ethylenediamine.
The nitrite ion is then reacted with sulfanilamide and N-1-
naphthylethylenediamine to form a red azo dye. The relative error
of triplicate sample measurements was below 1.5% for nitrate,
nitrite and phosphate concentrations, and below 5% for ammonium
concentrations.
DOC concentrations [mg/L] were determined via high temper-
ature combustion method using a Shimadzu TOC-VCSH Analyzer
equipped with a non-dispersive infrared sensor. 20 mL of GF/F-
filtered sample water is filled into pre-combusted (4 h at 450 ◦ C)
24 mL vials and put in the auto-sampler of the analyzer. The inor-
ganic carbon is outgassed for 2.5 min after adding 1.5 ␮L of 2 M HCl.
The carrier gas is synthetic air. Afterwards 150 ␮L of the sample is
injected into the combustion tube, which is filled with a platinum
catalyst, and oxidized at 720 ◦ C. All organic carbon compounds
are oxidized to CO2 and transferred into the detector. The TOC-
VCSH Analyzer is rinsed daily with ultrapure water. It is five-point
calibrated with an aqueous stock solution of potassium hydro-
gen phthalate (KHP) and DOC concentrations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and
20 mg/L. For additional measurement of DON, a four-point cali-
bration with an aqueous stock solution of potassium nitrate and
DON-concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 mg/L is done. After each
tenth freshwater sample, the calibration is checked; if uncertainty
exceeds 5% a new calibration is done. DOC concentrations are aver-
aged from three to five injections. The error of measurement is less
than 2% (Brockmeyer and Spitzy, 2013).
2.4. Statistical analyses
T-tests, discriminant analysis and principal component analy-
sis (PCA) were carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics 22. The t-test of
two dependent means (or paired samples t-test) was carried out for
each variable measured at the sampling stations using the means
of the dry and wet season measurements. A confidence interval of
95% was chosen to identify if the two data sets were adequately dif-
ferent. The discriminant analysis provides a model to group a set of
variables/observations obtained for example at different stations or
at different times. A set of discriminant functions is calculated based
on the linear combination of the variables in order to obtain the
best discriminant between the groups. The discriminant function
can be used to predict the group membership of new samples but
also to identify samples which were assigned to the wrong group
in the initial assumption. This is indicated by a large distance to the
mean of the groups. A PCA is used to determine the factors respon-
sible for the correlation pattern observed in a set of variables or
observations. It is an orthogonal transformation of a set of corre-
lated variables into a set of uncorrelated variables called principal
 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13
Fig. 4. Total suspended matter (mg/L) during the dry (gray bars) and wet season (black bars).
components. The first principal component explains most of the
variance of the data and all other components explain consecutively
less of the variance of the data set. After the initial PCA the most
relevant components are selected for rotation by varimax to sim-
plify the results. The selection can be done by selecting eigenvalues
(the variances of the principal components) >1. Alternatively, the
kink method can be applied to the scree plot, selecting the com-
ponents of the steep slope above the “kink” for rotation. The factor
coefficients give the relative weight of each variable in a compo-
nent. The factor score of each data set from a sampling location
is obtained by multiplying the standardized data with the factor
coefficients. A high (low) factor score shows that a sample has high
(low) concentrations of the variables with high factor coefficients.
A plot of factor scores and factor loading helps to visualize the
relationship between factor coefficients and scores at the sampling
locations.
2.5. Discharge calculation
As there are very few data of total annual TSM discharge which
are from the early 1980s and no data on carbon, nitrogen and nutri-
ent transport in the river, we used our database for a first estimate
of annual discharge of dissolved and particulate biogenic elements.
For these calculations we used our wet season concentrations mea-
sured in August as averages of the months July to October (high flow
period) and the dry season concentrations measured in December
and March as averages for the months November to June (low flow
period) and multiplied them with the monthly discharges at sta-
tions where discharge data and results of sample analyses were
available of the year 2012/2013.
3. Results
3.1. TSM, POC, PN, ı13 C and ı15 N of suspended particulate
organic matter
The TSM concentrations were between <2 and 16.0 mg/L
during the dry season in the investigated tributaries Bakoye
(Oualia), Bafing (Bafing M, Manantali up, Manantali dw) and
Faleme (Fadougou, Gourbassi, and Kidira) without a significant dif-
ference between them (Fig. 4). Enhanced values were only found at
Kidira which is the station just before the confluence of the Faleme
5
with the Senegal River. TSM concentrations in the Senegal River
from Bakel to Diama were 4.5–27.0 mg/L with a maximum at Salde
and a minimum at Diama. Highest TSM concentrations of 70.6 and
82.3 mg/L were measured at the estuarine stations Capitainerie PSL
and Direction RHSL, respectively. A small secondary TSM maxi-
mum occurred between Bakel and Ngouye, after the confluence of
the Senegal and Faleme. Much higher TSM concentrations occurred
during the wet season with values between 5.4 and 366.4 mg/L
(Fig. 4). There was a general increase of TSM from up- to down-
stream stations and a slight reduction at the two estuarine stations
Capitainerie PSL and Direction RHSL. TSM concentration was mea-
sured at one station in July 2012 (Dembancane; between Bakel and
Matam) and was, with a value of 540 mg/L, much higher than con-
centrations from the same part of the river in August 2013 (Table 2;
Supplementary materials). This is in agreement with TSM concen-
trations presented in Kattan et al. (1987) who found maxima in the
early wet season in June/July prior to the discharge peak of August
to October.
POC concentrations in river water were between 0.5 and
1.2 mg/L during the dry season and between 0.2 and 4.0 mg/L
during the wet season, following the same pattern as TSM. POC
and PN weight percentages of TSM were between 1.2–14.3% and
0.15–1.65%, respectively (Table 2; Supplementary materials). C/N
(atomic) ratios were between 4 and 10.2 during the dry season
with lowest values at the two estuarine stations and between 8.1
and 14.7 during the wet season with a clear decrease from up- to
downstream (Table 2; Supplementary material). Stable isotopes of
POC could be determined at only three stations during the dry sea-
son due to the low SPM concentrations (Table 2; Supplementary
materials). Two of these samples were not influenced by sea water
and have ␦13 C values of −27.2 and −29.4‰. The sample from station
Capitainerie PSL has a ␦13 C value of −20.8‰. In the wet season there
was no considerable difference between the up- and downstream
stations (samples from the upstream tributaries could not be ana-
lyzed due to low TSM concentrations) and the ␦13 C values range
from −24.4‰ to −22‰.
3.2. Nutrient, DOC and DON concentrations
Nitrate concentrations (Fig. 5a) were higher in the wet season
(average: 12 ␮M) than in the dry season (average: 3 ␮M) and reveal
a clear pattern from upstream to downstream stations. During the
6 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13

Fig. 5. Nitrate (a), phosphate (b) and silicate (c) concentrations in ␮M during the dry (gray bars) and wet season (black bars).

dry season, nitrate concentrations were elevated with values up to
10 ␮M in the upstream tributaries. They dropped to trace values
between Bakel and Diama indicating plankton blooms in the slug-
gish downstream waters. Elevated concentrations were found at
the stations with marine influence. During the wet season, nitrate
concentrations generally increase from up- to downstream and
have maxima of >20 ␮M. Nitrite concentrations ranged between
0.02 and 0.34 ␮M and ammonium concentrations between 0.39
and 2.19 ␮M, respectively (Table 3; Supplementary materials).
Phosphate concentrations (Fig. 5b) were between 0.1 and 4.2 ␮M.
Generally, wet season’s samples have lower concentrations, mostly
<0.5 ␮M, due to dilution. Average phosphate concentrations were
0.75 ␮M during the dry season and, respectively, 0.34 ␮M dur-
ing the wet season. Salde has the highest concentration during
 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13 7

Fig. 6. DOC (a) and DON (b) concentrations in mg/L during the dry (gray bars) and wet season (black bars).

the dry season. This may be due to local anthropogenic activities
of the riparian people during our sampling period (e.g. domestic
usages, agricultural activities). Silicate concentrations (Fig. 5c) were
between 22 and 107 ␮M and were higher during the wet season
(average: 78 ␮M) than during the dry season (average: 53 ␮M).
These values are in the lower range of rivers draining into the
tropical Atlantic (Araujo et al., 2014).
In the dry season, DOC concentrations (Fig. 6a) ranged from 1.25
to 3.25 mg/L (average: 1.65 mg/L) and in the wet season from 2.0
to 3.0 mg/L (average: 2.6 mg/L), respectively. DON concentrations
(Fig. 6b) ranged from 0.10 to 0.233 mg/L during the dry season
and from 0.024 to 0.184 mg/L during the wet season, respectively.
According to Meybeck (1982), the average of DON in three tropical
rivers (Solimoes, Negro, and Amazon) is 0.216 mg/L. He calculated
0.26 mg/L of DON as the average of world rivers.
3.3. POC, PN, carbonate and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes
of river bed samples
The river bed samples consist of sandy silt or silty sand and
have POC contents of 0.1–1.5% and PN contents of 0.01–0.08%,
respectively (Table 4; Supplementary materials). There is no clear
trend in downstream direction and POC contents in most sam-
ples are below 0.3%. There are a few higher values which may
hint at local depositional centers and these samples have finer
grain sizes in which organic matter tends to be enriched (Wiesner
et al., 1990). The sediments from Dagana to the river mouth
have carbonate contents with a maximum of 3.7% at Diama. All
other samples are carbonate free. The ␦13 C values of carbonate
free sediments are between −17.7 and −27.2‰ (Table 4; Supple-
mentary materials). The ␦15 N values are between 4.7 and 12.4‰
8 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13

Fig. 7. ␦15 N values (‰) of river bed sediments.

and are higher at downstream stations than at upstream stations
(Fig. 7).
4. Discussion
4.1. Seasonal and spatial variations in particulate and dissolved
river load of the Senegal River and its tributaries
River (Bakel to the estuary) and shows a general downstream
increase, especially of TSM and nitrate. The estuarine stations group
within the other wet season samples as the estuary is fresh water
dominated with only slightly elevated salinities of ∼5 (Baklouti
et al., 2011). Suspended and dissolved loads are not significantly
different in the wet and dry season in the upstream tributaries

The results of the t-test showed that dry and wet season con-
centrations are significantly different at a confidence level of >95%
for all variables (TSM, POC, PN, DOC, DON, NO3 , Si) except NO2 ,
NH4 and PO4 (Table 5; Supplementary materials). A discriminant
analysis was carried out to group the stations. We forced it with
three groups consisting of the three sampling campaigns. Variables
selected for the discriminant analysis were TSM, nitrate, DOC and
DON; the other variables either had many data gaps or their mean
values were not significantly different in the three selected groups.
The first discriminant function explains 73% of the variance and
all four variables have their highest (and significant) correlation
with the first discriminant function (Fig. 8). The results showed
that some of the samples deviate from the predicted groups. All
wet season samples from the Senegal River are in one group which
is distinguished from the other two groups by high scores of the first
function and their high scores are due to concentrations maxima of
all four variables in these samples. The scores of the second func-
tion explain only 27% of the variance and separate samples from the
tributaries Faleme and Bakoye from the samples of the Bafing and
the dry season sampling in the river Senegal (with few exceptions).
In order to retain the information of all variables and to deter-
mine the factors responsible for the observed temporal and spatial
variation we carried out a PCA using TSM, DOC, DON, nitrate, nitrite,
Fig. 8. Discriminant analysis: sample scores of the first (F1) and second (F2) discrim-
ammonium, phosphate and silicate. POC and PN, which are signif- inant function. The analyses was forced with three groups indicated by the sample
icantly correlated with TSM, were not included in the PCA as there codes a (dry season: December 2012), b (dry season: March 2013) and c (wet season).
are many upstream data gaps. The first two factors of the PCA had Sample codes are taken from Table 1 (Supplementary materials). Colors indicate the
eigenvalues >1 and were selected for rotation by the method vari- three groups identified by the discriminant analysis which partly deviate from the
initial forcing. Group 1 (blue): wet season samples from the Senegal River; group
max. The first factor explains 45% of the variance and has high factor
2 (black): mainly Bakoye and Faleme; group 3 (red): mainly Bafing and dry season
loadings of TSM, nitrate, DON and DOC (Fig. 9). It clearly distin- samples from the Senegal River. (For interpretation of the references to color in this
guishes the wet season from the dry season samples of the Senegal figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13 9

Fig. 9. Results of a principal component analysis using TSM, DOC, DON and the dissolved inorganic nutrients from the dry and wet season samples. Individual sampling
locations are indicated by their station number as given in Table 1 (Supplementary materials) with the letters indicating the time of sampling in December 2012 (a), March
2013 (b) and July 2012/August 2013 (c). Numbers in red denote samples from the dry season and numbers in blue samples from the wet season. For better visibility of
numbers some samples are marked as dots and numbers in italics plotted next to those dots denote their station numbers. Factor coefficients were multiplied with 5 in order
to present them in one plot with site/factor scores of samples. The factor coefficients for the individual variables are indicated in black. Nitrate (NO3 ) plotted very close to
TSM and DON and the exact position of NO3 is indicated by a dot and arrow. Encircled samples are from the upstream tributaries Bafing (green circle) and Bakoye and Faleme
(blue circle). All encircled samples are from these tributaries except one sample from the Senegal River (16b – Diama) which plots within the Bafing circle. (For interpretation
of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

as also indicated by their similar site scores of the first and sec-
ond factor (Fig. 9). The second factor of the PCA reveals differences
between the tributaries. It explains 20% of the total variance and
has high factor loadings of ammonium, phosphate and nitrite and
a negative loading of silicate. The Bakoye and Faleme samples have
low scores of the second factor due to their higher silicate contents
and are, moreover, enriched in TSM. Additionally, their scores of the
first factor are slightly higher than those of the Bafing. The Bafing
has less silicate and TSM concentrations and is more enriched in
phosphate. Exceptions are the two samples upstream of the Man-
antali dam which have higher silicate contents within the range of
Bakoye and Faleme samples. This implies that the dam acts as a
silicate trap and can thus alter the plankton community. Reduction
of silicate was observed to occur in regulated rivers, especially by
dam building as it increases the residence time of river water and
thus enhances consumption relative to supply of silicate (Humborg
et al., 1997, 2008). The dry season samples from the river Senegal
are a mixture of the three tributaries (with locally elevated phos-
phate and ammonia concentrations) which indicates that there is
no significant additional source of dissolved and suspended load
after the confluence of the Senegal with the Faleme. Downstream
samples even become more depleted in nitrate indicating assimi-
lation by plankton. The two estuarine stations are enriched in TSM
and nitrate during the dry season. This shows that the estuary is
dominated by sea water as was observed by Baklouti et al. (2011)
who found salinities >20. Sea water is enriched in nutrients dur-
ing the first half of the year as coastal upwelling has its maximum
(Hagen, 2001) leading to the import of nutrients and aggravating
eutrophication in the estuary (Baklouti et al., 2011).
A seasonal pattern of TSM, POC and DOC contents was shown
to be characteristic of flat African river basins (Coynel et al., 2005;
Kattan et al., 1987). The enrichment of wet season samples in these
variables is due to the strong slope erosion leading to leaching, and
loading of particulates into the river. Surface flow contributes about
14% to total discharge of the Senegal River on an annual average
and is strongly enriched in TSM with values up to 1.1 g L−1 (Kattan
et al., 1987). 50–80% of the total suspended transport originates
from slope erosion and 13–22% from channel erosion (Kattan et al.,
1987). Highest concentrations of both, dissolved and particulate
matter occur in the early wet season due to erosion of particu-
late matter and flushing of DOC into the river when vegetation is
still sparse (Coynel et al., 2005; Kattan et al., 1987). We have one
sample from this season taken at Dembancane and it has the high-
est TSM, POC, PN and nitrate concentration of all our samples. All
other wet season samples were taken in August during the high
discharge period when reduced erosion due to growing vegetation
and stronger dilution led to reduced suspended matter concentra-
tions. Further dropping of TSM, POC, PN and DOC discharge are due
to deposition of particulate matter over alluvial plains, settling of
particles to the river bed as well as to uptake and adsorption of
DOC, as the current speed reduces toward the end of the wet sea-
son (Coynel et al., 2005; Kattan et al., 1987). During the dry season,
the river becomes very sluggish and low turbidity and flow speeds
facilitate plankton blooms.
4.2. Anthropogenic impact
Nutrient concentrations in rivers reveal a wide range depend-
ing on rock type, climate and vegetation in their drainage area.
However, human population density and agricultural activity in the
catchment have the most significant impact on riverine nutrient
discharge. Globally, only 35% of riverine nutrients are of natural
origin (Seitzinger et al., 2005). Nutrient concentrations in Sene-
gal River are low compared to rivers from more industrialized and
denser populated areas (Meybeck, 1982; Meybeck and Ragu, 1996)
and range among rivers with low human impact such as the Orinoco
and Amazon (Araujo et al., 2014). The locally elevated concentra-
tions (>1 ␮M) show that phosphate is contributed by anthropogenic
10 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13
Fig. 10. Ratios of DOC/POC during the dry (gray bars) and wet season (black bars).
point sources, especially in the more densely populated down-
stream areas and at upstream cities such as Kayes, Bakel and
Matam. Phosphate concentrations are considerably enhanced in
untreated domestic and industrial wastewater and anthropogenic
point sources supply the major amount of phosphate to rivers,
whereas nitrate is more enriched in industrial wastewater and
most of it is diffusively transported into rivers from agricultural
sources (Baum and Rixen, 2014; Seitzinger et al., 2005). Similar to
phosphate, nitrate concentrations are in the lower range of large
African and South American rivers (Araujo et al., 2014). Even the
most elevated nitrate concentrations in Senegal River are not much
above background values of 0.3 mg/L (21 ␮M) defined for European
rivers (WEU2, 2004). Low ammonium values and trace amounts of
nitrite confirm that organic pollution is low (Table 3; Supplemen-
tary materials).
In contrast to most other nutrients, nitrate reveals a systematic
difference between the wet and dry season. Upstream tributaries
have lower concentrations during the wet season than during the
dry season as more inorganic nitrogen is retained in the catchments
during the (wet) growing season (McCrackin et al., 2014). In the
downstream area the trend is opposite. Plankton blooms in the dry
season deplete nitrate to concentrations below 1 ␮M which indi-
cates that nitrogen is the primary limiting nutrient in the Senegal
River as well as in the estuary and coastal waters (Quiblier et al.,
2008). During the wet season high amounts of nitrate are flushed
into the river. Its downstream increase (although still with a mod-
erate effect on absolute nutrient concentrations) is in line with the
increase of agricultural activities, irrigation and fertilizer use in the
downstream catchment.
The anthropogenic impact on DOC and DON concentrations
in rivers is much smaller than the impact on inorganic nutrients
(Marwick et al., 2015; Seitzinger et al., 2010). DOC in river water is
rather determined by climate, soil type and vegetation in the catch-
ment (Camino-Serrano et al., 2014). DOC concentrations in Senegal
River are below the world average of 5.75 mg/L (Meybeck, 1982)
and are much lower than in black water rivers which drain the wet
tropics (e.g. Baum and Rixen, 2014; Coynel et al., 2005). Mineral
non-forest soil solution was found to have concentrations between
1 and 11 mg/L (Camino-Serrano et al., 2014) and the DOC concentra-
tions in Senegal River are in the low range of these values. Generally,
there is no high gradient of DOC and DON concentrations between
stations during the same season. During the dry season there is
a small decrease of DOC concentrations from the more vegetated
upstream stations to the dry downstream area. The DOC/POC ratio
(Fig. 10) is higher than 1 during the dry season and around 1 during
the wet season. The reasons may be that DOC from groundwater is
the main organic carbon source during the dry season while par-
ticulate organic matter form surface erosion is a significant organic
carbon sources during the wet season. The average DOC/POC ratio
modeled for African rivers is around one due to the drainage of
only few wetlands and mainly of regions with organic poor soils
(Seitzinger et al., 2005). In contrast, rivers draining the wet tropics
such as the Congo or Amazon discharge about 80% of their organic
carbon in dissolved form derived from organic matter degradation
in wetlands and forest soils (Seitzinger et al., 2005; Richey et al.,
1990).
4.3. Organic matter sources
C/N ratios hint at the different organic matter sources in the
dry and wet season (as shown in Table 2; Supplementary mate-
rials). The C/N ratios of 4–10 found during the dry season are
typical of plankton (Meyers, 1994). The low flow velocity and high
transparency of water during sampling in the dry season, lead
to an increase of autochthonous carbon. This is supported by the
depleted ␦13 C values of the two suspended matter samples from the
river. Phytoplankton in fresh water systems can have very depleted
carbon isotopic values at oxygenated and non-eutrophic conditions
(Leng et al., 2006). Station Capitainerie PSL is influenced by marine
waters. Its higher ␦13 C values are very likely to be related to marine
plankton which has more enriched ␦13 C values (∼20–21‰) com-
pared with aquatic plankton of inland waters (Meyers, 1994, 1997).
The high TSM concentrations in the wet season, lead to low
productivity as light penetration is reduced. Consequently, the
organic matter has a higher allochthonous proportion. C/N ratios
are elevated during the wet season at most stations and show a
decrease from a maximum of 14.7 at Fadougou in the more densely
forested upstream region to a minimum of 8.1 at Capitainerie PSL.
This decrease suggests increasing admixture of fresh plankton or
soil organic matter with a low C/N ratio at the downstream sta-
tions (Table 2; Supplementary materials). Land plants can have C/N
rations >20 (Meyers, 1994). As a result, even small amounts of land
plants can raise the C/N ratios considerably. On the other hand C/N
ratios of land derived organic matter may decrease during degrada-
tion due to the preferential removal of carbon rich lipids and sugars
(Meyers, 1997). Based solely on C/N ratios, it is difficult to estimate
 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13
the relative proportions of aquatic vs. land plant organic matter,
especially if soil organic matter with low C/N is also contributed.
Carbon isotopic ratios are useful to distinguish C3 and C4 plants
as well as marine and aquatic organic matter (Meyers, 1997). The
␦13 C values of C3 plants range between −38 and −22‰ and those
of C4 plants between −15 and −8‰ (Darling et al., 2006); plank-
ton dominated dry season samples from the river Senegal had ␦13 C
values of −27 and −30‰. In the wet season, there is no signifi-
cant difference between the stations from upstream to downstream
(samples from the upstream tributaries could not be analyzed due
to low TSM concentrations) and the ␦13 C values from −24.43‰
to −21.98‰ indicate mixed origin. The vegetation in the Senegal
River catchment is of mixed C3 and C4 source with dominance of
C4 plants (Still et al., 2003). As C/N ratios imply that aquatic plank-
ton is admixed, the depletion relative to C4 plants can be due to,
both, C3 plants and aquatic plankton.
River bed samples integrate the organic matter source over
the year with a sorting effect as the coarser material is deposited
whereas finer material is transported downstream and deposited
only in very tranquil parts of the river. This sorting effect evidently
leads to a relative enrichment of land plants as C/N ratios are higher
and ␦13 C values are more enriched in river bed samples compared
with suspended matter. River bed sediments have small carbonate
contents from the estuarine stations up to Dagana revealing proba-
ble sporadic salt water intrusion importing carbonaceous plankton.
This may also be related to the rise of salty groundwater fed by
marine water infiltration for a long time (OMVS, 2009). This rise
has led to salination of soils in the delta and the lower valley. The
␦15 N values are higher in river bed samples from downstream than
from upstream stations (Fig. 7). This could be a signal of fertilizer
use, more intense agriculture and anthropogenic pressure in the
more densely populated downstream area of Senegal River as deni-
trification and evaporative loss of heavy nitrogen isotopes lead to
elevated ␦15 N in fertilized soils (Deek et al., 2013). Soils from arid
regions, generally, have elevated ␦15 N values; this means that the
observed pattern may also reflect the increasing aridity (Amundson
et al., 2003). A more detailed investigation of nitrogen cycling in
the catchment including isotopic measurements of dissolved nitro-
gen is required to evaluate if the enhanced ␦15 N values definitely
indicate human impact.
4.4. Estimation of TSM, carbon, nitrogen and inorganic nutrient
discharge
Total annual TSM discharges were calculated at gauging stations
using wet and, respectively, dry season TSM concentrations (Table
6; Supplementary materials) and the average wet and, respec-
tively, dry season mean water discharges of the sampling period
2012/13 (Bakel: 1520.09 and 331.51 m3 s−1 ). Bakel station regis-
ters the highest discharge of the Senegal River gauging stations
(as shown in Fig. 3), and all upstream flows are drained into this
station. Using this approach, annual TSM discharge was estimated
to 1.93 Tg yr−1 (Table 6), and more than 90% of it is discharged
during the wet season from July to October. A second method to
calculate TSM discharge is to use an empirical exponential relation-
ship between mean monthly water discharge and TSM discharge
derived by Kattan et al. (1987; Eqs. (8) and (9)). The resulting TSM
discharge of 2.69 Tg yr−1 is 40% larger than the estimate based on
our TSM concentrations. The uncertainty of both methods is large
and difficult to assess. We may have underestimated TSM dis-
charges if our sampling campaign was carried out during a period
of minimum TSM concentrations. Average TSM concentrations in
August of Kattan et al. (1987) were two times higher than our wet
season TSM concentrations at Bakel. However, Kattan et al.’s equa-
tion was derived from a data set collected during a period of draught
in the early 1980s. Moreover, there were less population, land use
11
and irrigation in the river basin. Irrigation may have reduced sur-
face erosion in the catchment during the last decades so that TSM
discharges may not have increased despite the higher water dis-
charges during the present wetter period. Due to the large error in
TSM concentrations, the estimated PON and PN discharges are also
quite uncertain and the values of 55.8 Gg yr−1 POC and 5.9 Gg yr−1
PN at Bakel (Table 6) are first estimates which need to be verified
by further studies.
The errors of our estimated DOC and DON discharges are not
much higher than the analytical errors of 2% and respectively,
5%. DOC and DON concentrations were almost constant during
the sampling campaigns as they are mostly conservative in rivers
and between 70 and 88% of their variance in world rivers can
be explained by water discharge alone (Seitzinger et al., 2005).
We estimate a total annual discharge of 54.1 Gg yr−1 DOC and
5.3 Gg yr−1 DON at Bakel (Table 5). The DOC discharge of the Sene-
gal River is much lower than 12,400 Gg yr−1 found by Coynel et al.
(2005) in the Congo/Zaire River. The higher DOC discharge of the
Congo/Zaire is due to its much higher water discharge and its dense
tropical vegetation. An earlier estimate of the total TSM yield of
the river Senegal based on the data from Bakel was 8.75 t km2 yr−1
(Kattan et al., 1987). Our TSM discharge produces a very similar
total yield of 8.85 t km2 yr−1 which is within the range of the low
yield typical of rivers flowing through low-lying terrain and there-
fore having much lower yields compared to rivers draining young
mountain ranges (Milliman and Meade, 1983). DSi discharges were
around 49.9 Gg yr−1 at Bakel and 14.31 Gg yr−1 at Gourbassi; DIP
discharges ranged from 63.87 Mg yr−1 to 475.8 Mg yr−1 (Table 7).
We believe that the DSi, DIP, DOC and DON discharges estimated
for the main gauging station Bakel which covers 81% of the river
catchment may be in the range of the discharges at the river mouth.
But it is important to note that TSM and to a lesser extend POC and
PN concentrations increase downstream of Bakel during the wet
season probably due to erosion by surface runoff. The actual dis-
charge of TSM to the coastal sea may be by 100–200% higher and the
discharge of POC and PN by about 20–30% higher than measured at
the main gauging station of the Senegal River. The most significant
increase may be observed for DIN discharge as nitrate concen-
trations increase by two to three times in the lower catchment
(Table 3; Supplementary materials).
5. Conclusions
Higher TSM, DOC, DON and nitrate concentrations characterize
the Senegal River samples during the wet season and distinguish
them from the dry season samples. The composition of samples
from the upstream tributaries is not significantly different in the
wet and dry season. The Bakoye and Faleme are more enriched in
silicate and have higher TSM concentrations than the Bafing which
is depleted in silicate after damming at Manantali.
Nutrient concentrations in the Senegal River basin reveal a rel-
atively low anthropogenic impact compared with heavily polluted
European, Asian or North American rivers. Phosphate, supplied
from anthropogenic point sources, is locally enhanced to values
up to 4 ␮M but is, generally much below 1 ␮M. Both, phosphate
and silicate concentrations show no systematic variations from
upstream to downstream stations. Nitrate, however, increases in
the more densely populated downstream river basin to concentra-
tions slightly above 20 ␮M which suggests that diffusive supplies of
nitrate related to agriculture and anthropogenic land-use enhance
concentrations.
Low C/N-ratios, depleted ␦13 C values and enhanced TOC per-
centages indicate that aquatic plankton dominates organic matter
in the Senegal River during the dry season when low TSM con-
centrations allow sufficient light penetration for plankton blooms.
12 M.L. Mbaye et al. / Limnologica 57 (2016) 1–13
During the wet season TSM concentrations mostly >100 mg/L sup-
press aquatic blooms. Then, TOC is derived from land plants, soil
organic matter and aquatic productivity in flood plains. The river
bed sediments have low TOC content and ␦13 C values are simi-
lar to those found in TSM during the wet season and indicate the
dominance of C4 plants with some admixture of C3 plants and
aquatic plankton. Low carbonate admixture shows that sea water
can intrude sporadically up to Dagana.
We estimated total annual discharges of TSM, POC, PN, DOC,
DON, DIN, DSi and DIP at the gauging stations Bakel, Kidira and
Gourbassi based on the concentrations of these variables deter-
mined during the dry and wet seasons of 2012/13 of this study. Our
TSM discharge of 1.93 Tg yr−1 at Bakel is within the range of TSM
discharges from the draught years of the early 1980s (Kattan et al.,
1987). Our data either underestimate TSM discharges because our
wet season sampling was carried out during a period of relatively
low TSM concentrations, or indicate a reduction in TSM concentra-
tions during the last decades due to irrigation and changed land use
and the recent “greening” of the Sahel (Kaptué et al., 2015). DOC
and DON discharges of 54.1 Gg yr−1 and, respectively, 5.3 Gg yr−1
are more reliable as DOC and DON behave almost conservatively
along the course of the river. A DOC/POC ratio of one equals the
average of African rivers. TSM, PON, PN and nitrate concentrations
increase considerably between Bakel and the river mouth so that
the discharges data at Bakel underestimate total annual discharges
to the coastal sea.
The findings of this research provide baseline information on the
water quality of the Senegal River from up- to downstream. Such
data were lacking in the existing literature so far and they could be
a good reference for further studies, particularly of the spatial and
seasonal variability of nutrients, particulate and dissolved organic
carbon and nitrogen concentrations. As there is no official database
on water quality at the basin’s organization, this study will help to
inform local communities and water resource managers in order to
increase awareness and to support the development of adaptation
strategies of the riparian countries. We emphasize that our findings
urge further investigations, especially due to the poor temporal
coverage. Furthermore, investigations downstream of the major
gauging station are required for a realistic estimate of the impact
of the river on siltation and eutrophication in the coastal sea.
Acknowledgements
We thank the German Federal Ministry of Education and
Research (BMBF) for funding the West African Science Service Cen-
tre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) which has
financed this work. We are grateful to Frauke Langenberg and Peggy
Bartsch for technical assistance and help during analyses. We are
further thankful to Tombo Wassa, Babacar Faye and Semou Ndao for
their great help during fieldworks. We thank also Malick Mbengue
for keeping the samples in good conditions before analyses in their
laboratory. We thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor who
have helped to tremendously improve the manuscript.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found,
in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2015.12.
003.
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