Essai de caracterisation de quelques lacs rwandais par leur peuplement piscicole

Ten Rwandan lakes have been characterized on the basis of two year's of fisheries data. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis applied to fish data show that different species are arranged on a curvilinear structure and that their number increases from upstream to downstream in the Nyabarongo-Akagera river. The classification of the lakes shows three groups: the northern poor lakes, the less poor Nyabarongo valley lakes and the Akagera valley lakes with the highest variety of fish species. This pattern shows the role of the Nyabarongo-Akagera river in the ecology of Rwandan aquatic ecosystems.