A quantitative survey of the aquatic invertebrate community in the "Monumento natural Salar de Surire" on the Chilean Altiplano

A quantitative survey of the aquatic invertebrate community at a salar on the Chilean Altiplano is described. To establish the taxonomic composition and abundance we monitored inter-annual changes in community structure for four consecutive years covering different conditions. The community was comp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of natural history 2010-11, Vol.44 (47-48), p.2917-2928
Main Authors: Scheihing, R., Labarca, P., Santibañez, P., Asencio, G., Clasing, E., Nespolo, R.F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aquatic invertebrates
Arthropoda
diversity
high Andean plateau
Invertebrata
salar
Shannon index
taxonomy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A quantitative survey of the aquatic invertebrate community at a salar on the Chilean Altiplano is described. To establish the taxonomic composition and abundance we monitored inter-annual changes in community structure for four consecutive years covering different conditions. The community was composed of 21 taxa, representing 16 families, and was mainly dominated by arthropods. We found a high number of endemic species compared to other freshwater systems despite the low abundances detected. There were statistically significant inter-annual differences in diversity. A canonical correlation indicated that species richness was mainly affected by temperature. We studied this unique system by taking advantage of the "natural laboratory" that it offers. We found a combination of eutrophic conditions with low species diversity at the consumer level. This system invites further research on the community dynamics and microevolutionary aspects of invertebrate populations.
ISSN:0022-2933
1464-5262
DOI:10.1080/00222933.2010.507884