Regulatory factors in crustacean zooplankton assemblages in mountain lakes of northern Chilean Patagonia (38 41°S): a comparison with Bulgarian counterparts (42°N)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Chilean Patagonia has protected mountainous areas with evergreen native forests; in which the lakes and rivers, of volcanic or glacial origin, are oligotrophic. In Bulgaria, there are mountainous zones with native forests and associated lakes of volcanic origin. The aim of the present study is to carry out a preliminary comparison of zooplanktonic crustaceans in lake ecosystems associated with native forests of Chilean Patagonia and of Bulgarian mountains. The study revealed that the lakes studied in Chilean Patagonia are associated mainly with Nothofagus forests; they are oligotrophic, with a low number of zooplanktonic crustacean species. Similar results were observed for Bulgarian mountain lakes associated with Fagus forests. A null model analysis of species co-occurrence was applied to the two groups of lakes, and the result revealed the absence of regulatory factors in species associations. These studies agree with similar descriptions of lakes in Andean Patagonia and New Zealand. They highlight the important role of native Nothofagus forests in Argentina and Chile, and of Fagus forests with associated soil properties in Bulgaria, in the oligotrophy of the lakes studied.

Spectral Properties Observations: a First Comparison of Bulgarian and Chilean Mountain Lakes

“…Both groups were markedly different probably due to geological and associated vegetation [1][2]4]. Nevertheless, the marked differences for Bulgarian lakes would agree with the marked heterogeneity of the environments of these sites [1][2], which would be denoted using remote sensing techniques such as those observed for Patagonian lakes with marked environmental heterogeneity like that observed for Tagua Tagua and General Carrera lakes [6][7][8].…”

“…Oerst. At altitudes greater than 1,000 m a.s.l., these species coexist with Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch, between 38-39ºS [3][4][5].…”

“…Alerce Andino National Park (39°S, Chile) lakes (Chaiquenes, Sargazo, and Triangulo) are oligotrophic with glacial origin and these are associated with Nothofagus forests that coexist with Fitzroya cupressoides forest [4][5].…”

Evidence of the Anthropic Impact on a Crustacean Zooplankton Community in Two North Patagonian Lakes

“…However, the value reported in this study was different from that reported in Icalma by Soto and Zuñiga [13], as they only reported the presence of N. chilensis. Furthermore, De Los Ríos-Escalante et al [10,89] only reported the presence of D. pulex and M. longisetus, with great dominance of the species Boeckella gracilipes (order Copepoda). By contrast, the dominance and presence of B. gracilipes was not reported in our study.…”

Spectral Properties Observations in Lakes of a Chilean National Park

“…The environmental heterogeneity for Patagonian lakes has been described with details mainly in trophic status and associated basins [7][8][9], but recently optical properties associated with ecological implicances due to the presence of associated glaciers with consequent changes in water coloration properties, light absorption, and changes in associated trophic webs have been studied [10][11][12], and these results can be associated with optical properties obtained from satellite images [4][5][6]. Many of these lakes are located in zones with serious accessibility issues, and only a few of them are not accessible by mountain paths [1,3]. Then many of these lakes are located in zones without easy access, and in this scenario the first exploration by remote sensing techniques would be very useful for beginning limnological studies [12][13][14][15].…”