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Inland water microcrustacean assemblages in an altitudinal gradient in Aysen region (46° S, Patagonia Chile)

Crustáceos zooplâncton de águas continentais litorales na gradiente de altitude na região de Aysén (46 ° S, Patagônia Chile)

Abstracts

The Chilean Patagonia has numerous kinds of inland water ecosystems such as lakes, ponds, wetlands and rivers that have been poorly studied due to access difficulties. This study was carried out in Aysen region, in southern Chile, and it included different kinds of water bodies such as rivers, streams, ponds, lagoons and lakes distributed along an altitudinal gradient at 46° S. It was found a low species number, essentially cladocerans, copepods and amphipods. A null model was applied in order to determine the existence of regulator factors of species associations, and the results revealed that they are not random. The patterns would be influenced by geographical and limnological characteristics of the studied sites. Our results would agree with regional studies on habitat heterogeneity such as in Torres del Paine National Park and other zones in Tierra del Fuego island.

microcrustaceans; Boeckella ; Hyalella ; null models; Patagonia


A Patagônia chilena apresenta numerosos tipos de ecossistemas aquáticos, como lagos, lagoas, pântanos e rios, os quais tem sido pouco estudados devido a dificuldades de acesso. Este estudo foi feito na região de Aysén, no sul do Chile, e inclui diferentes tipos de corpos d'água, tais como rios, córregos, lagos, lagoas e lagos distribuídos ao longo de um gradiente de altitude a 46° S. Constatou-se baixo número de espécies que inclui, essencialmente, cladóceros, copépodos e anfípodos. Um modelo nulo foi aplicado para determinar a existência de fatores reguladores das associações de espécies os resultados indicam que estes não são aleatórios. Os padrões poderiam ser influenciados pelas características geográficas e limnológicas do locais estudados. Os resultados expostos concordariam com estudos regionais sobre com habitats heterogeneidade como Torres del Paine Parque Nacional e outras zonas na ilha de Tierra del Fuego.

microcrustaceans; Boeckella ; Hyalella ; modelo nulo; Patagonia


1.Introduction

The microcrustacean assemblages in lakes and ponds in central and southern Patagonia (44-53° S) have different characteristics (De los Ríos-Escalante, 2010DE LOS RÍOS-ESCALANTE, P., 2010. Crustacean zooplankton communities in Chilean inland Waters. Crustaceana Monographs, vol. 12, p. 1-109.) due the heterogeneity of water bodies. For example, large lakes, small lakes and shallow ponds of Torres del Paine microcrustacean species associations are regulated by conductivity and the trophic status (Soto and De los Ríos, 2006SOTO, D. and DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2006. Trophic status and conductitivity as regulators of daphnids dominance and zooplankton assemblages in lakes and ponds of Torres del Paine National Park. Biologia, Bratislava, vol. 61, no.5, p. 541-546. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-0088-7
http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-008...
; De los Ríos and Soto, 2009DE LOS RÍOS, P. and SOTO, D., 2009. Estudios limnológicos en lagos y lagunas del Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (51 S, Chile). Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 37, no. 1, p. 63-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2009000100006
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2009...
). This pattern is similar to the one described for lakes and ponds in Argentinean Patagonia (Modenutti et al. 1998MODENUTTI, BE., BALSEIRO, EG., QUEIMALIÑOS, CP., SUAREZ, DA., DIEGUEZ, MC. and ALBARIÑO, RJ., 1998. Structure and dynamics of food webs in Andean lakes. Lakes and. Reservoir Research and Management, vol. 3, p. 179-186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1770.1998.00071.x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1770.19...
) and also with descriptions for New Zealand lakes (Jeppensen et al. 1997JEPPENSEN, E., LAURIDSEN, TL., MITCHELL, SF. and BURNS, CW., 1997. Do planktivorous fish structure the zooplankton communities in New Zealand lakes? New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, vol. 31, no. 1, p. 163-173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00288330.1997.9516755
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00288330.1997....
, 2000JEPPENSEN, E., LAURIDSEN, TL., MITCHELL, SF., CHRISTOFFERSEN, K. and BURNS, CW., 2000. Trophic structure in the pelagial of 25 shallow New Zealand lakes: changes along nutrient and fish gradients. Journal of Plankton Research, vol. 22, no. 5. p. 951-968. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/plankt/22.5.951
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/plankt/22.5.95...
). From this point of view microcrustacean assemblages are not random, regulatory, or deterministic factors exists to explain the community structure. The absence of regulatory factors and the random distribution in species co-occurrence are the basis of the null models.

One of these models used the presence and absence of species to determine the absence of deterministic factors as regulators of species co-occurrence or guild structure, these null models are more robust in comparison with deterministic models (Gotelli, 2000GOTELLI, NJ., 2000. Null models of species co-occurrence patterns. Ecology, vol. 81, no. 9, p. 2606-2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478...
, 2001). The aim of the present study is to apply a null model analysis based on presence-absence of species matrix using of non-random test procedures in order to contribute to the understanding of community ecology in inland water microcrustaceans along an altitudinal gradient in Aysen region inland waters

2. Material and methods

The studied region is located at 46° S (Aysen region, Chile, Figure 1), and it is characterized by the presence of a variety of landscapes, valleys, mountains, lakes, rivers and ponds (Niemeyer and Cereceda, 1984NIEMEYER, H. and CERECEDA, P., 1984. Hidrografìa. Geografía de Chile. Chilean Military Geographic Institute, vol. 8, 320 p.). Within the inland water bodies there are large and deep lakes, small lakes, shallow permanent and ephemeral pools, and rivers (Niemeyer and Cereceda, 1984NIEMEYER, H. and CERECEDA, P., 1984. Hidrografìa. Geografía de Chile. Chilean Military Geographic Institute, vol. 8, 320 p.; De los Ríos-Escalante, 2010DE LOS RÍOS-ESCALANTE, P., 2010. Crustacean zooplankton communities in Chilean inland Waters. Crustaceana Monographs, vol. 12, p. 1-109.). This region is difficult to access due to the marked isolation that is an advantage because these ecosystems are practically pristine but the disadvantage is that it is difficult to carry out systematic field works due to geographical and climatic features (De los Ríos, 2008DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2008. A null model for explain crustacean zooplankton species associations in central and southern Patagonian inland waters. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 25-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008000100002
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008...
).

Figure 1.
Sampled sites: P1(Balmaceda 1); P2 (Balmaceda 2); P3 (Balmaceda 3); P4 (Balmaceda 4); P5 (Balmaceda 5); P6 (Balmaceda 6); P7 (Balmaceda 7); P8 (Verde 1); P9 (Chiguay); P10 (Ardilla); P11 (Chacano); P12 (Lagoon 1); P13 (Lagoon 2); P14 (Lagoon 3); P15 (Tamango); P16 (Lagoon 4); P17 (Laparent); P18 (General Carrera); P19 (Venus); P20 (Verde 2); P21 (De los Sapos); P22 (Riesco).

Information from 22 sites was obtained during field works in February 2012 (Table 1). The geographical location and altitude were obtained using a GPS Garmin, pH, temperature, total dissolved solids and conductivity were measured in situ with a Hanna sensor, the microcrustaceans were collected in rivers using a 25 * 25 cm and 100 µm mesh size surber net (Domíngez and Fernandez, 2009), whereas in lakes the samples were collected using horizontal hauls with a plankton net of 25 cm diameter and 100 mm mesh size (De los Ríos et al. 2010). Microcrustacean species were fixed in absolute ethanol and identified using specialized literature (Araya and Zúñiga, 1985ARAYA, JM. and ZÚÑIGA, LR., 1985. Manual taxonómico del zooplancton lacustre de Chile. Boletín Limnológico, vol. 8, p. 1-169.; Reid, 1985REID, J., 1985. Chave de identificao e lista de referencias bibliográficas para as especies continentais sudamericanas de vida libre da orden Cyclopoida (Crustacea, Copepoda). Boletim Zoologico Universidade do São Paulo, vol. 9, p. 17-143.; Bayly, 1992BAYLY, IAE., 1992. Fusion of the genera Boeckella and Pseudoboeckella and a revision of their species from South America and Subantarctic islands. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, vol. 65, no. 1, p. 17-63.; González, 2003GONZÁLEZ, E, 2003. The freshwater amphipods Hyalella Smith, 1874 in Chile (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, vol. 76, no. 4, p. 623-637. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2003000400007
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2003...
; Dos Santos et al. 2008DOS SANTOS, A., ARAUJO, P. and BOND-BUCKUP, G., 2008. New species and new reports of Hyalella (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Dogielinotidae) from Argentina. Zootaxa, vol. 1760, p. 24-36.).

Table 1.
Geographical location, altitude, temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solids, pH and species reported at the studied sites.

The obtained information was analyzed in two steps. The first step included firstly the information on species co-occurrence (only adult stages) which was ordered using an absence/presence matrix. Secondly, a Checkerboard score (“C-score”), a quantitative index of occurrence, was applied, which measures the extent to which species co-occur less frequently than expected by chance alone (Gotelli 2000GOTELLI, NJ., 2000. Null models of species co-occurrence patterns. Ecology, vol. 81, no. 9, p. 2606-2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478...
, 2001). Gotelli and Entsminger (2009)GOTELLI, NJ. and ENTSMINGER, GL., 2009. EcoSim: Null models software for ecology. version 7. Acquired Intelligence Inc. and Kesey-Bear. Jericho, VT 05465. Available from: <http://garyentsminger.com/ecosim.htm>.
http://garyentsminger.com/ecosim.htm...
, Tiho and Johens (2007)TIHO, S. and JOHENS, J., 2007. Co-occurrence of earthworms in urban surroundings: a null models of community structure. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 43, no 2, p. 84-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006.10.004
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006....
, and Tondoh (2006)TONDOH, JE., 2006. Seasonal changes in earthworm diversity and community structure in central Côte d'Ivoire. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 42, supplement 1, p. S334-S340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006.09.003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006....
suggested that the following robust statistical models should be used in a co-occurrence analysis. First, the matrix layout needs to include the species names in the rows and the sites in the columns. Second, the following models should be used: (1) Fixed-Fixed. In this model, the row and column sums of the matrix are preserved. Thus, each random community contains the same number of species as the original community (fixed column) and each species occurs with the same frequency as in the original community (fixed row). (2) Fixed-Equiprobable. In this algorithm only the row sums are fixed and the columns are treated as equiprobable. This null model considers all the sites (columns) as equally available for all species, which occur in the same proportions as in the original communities. (3) Fixed-Proportional. This model maintains the species occurrence as in the original community and the probability that a species occurs at a site (column) is proportional to the column total for that sample. The variance ratio of the column sum to the sum of the row variances. Unlike C-score index, the variance ratio does not measure patterns of co-occurrence within the matrix, but it is determined exclusively by row and column sums of the matrix (Gotelli, 2000GOTELLI, NJ., 2000. Null models of species co-occurrence patterns. Ecology, vol. 81, no. 9, p. 2606-2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478...
). Therefore, this model is not valid for the fixed-fixed null model. For this reason, the variance ratio was not tested with this null model. The variance ratio measures the variability in the number of species by sample. If species richness is regulated by biological interactions, communities should converge to a relatively constant number of species per sample (Gotelli, 2000GOTELLI, NJ., 2000. Null models of species co-occurrence patterns. Ecology, vol. 81, no. 9, p. 2606-2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/177478...
). In a competitively structured community the observed variance ratio should be significantly smaller than expected by chance (Tiho and Johens, 2007TIHO, S. and JOHENS, J., 2007. Co-occurrence of earthworms in urban surroundings: a null models of community structure. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 43, no 2, p. 84-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006.10.004
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006....
). All null model analyses were carried out using the software Ecosim version 7.0 (Tondoh, 2006TONDOH, JE., 2006. Seasonal changes in earthworm diversity and community structure in central Côte d'Ivoire. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 42, supplement 1, p. S334-S340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006.09.003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006....
; Tiho and Johens, 2007TIHO, S. and JOHENS, J., 2007. Co-occurrence of earthworms in urban surroundings: a null models of community structure. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 43, no 2, p. 84-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006.10.004
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006....
; De los Ríos 2008DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2008. A null model for explain crustacean zooplankton species associations in central and southern Patagonian inland waters. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 25-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008000100002
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008...
; De los Ríos et al. 2008bDE LOS RÍOS, P., RIVERA, N. and GALINDO, M., 2008b. The use of null models to explain zooplancton species associations in shallow water bodies of the Magallanes region, Chile. Crustaceana, vol. 81, no.10, p. 1219-1228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X374540
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X3745...
; Gotelli and Entsminger, 2009GOTELLI, NJ. and ENTSMINGER, GL., 2009. EcoSim: Null models software for ecology. version 7. Acquired Intelligence Inc. and Kesey-Bear. Jericho, VT 05465. Available from: <http://garyentsminger.com/ecosim.htm>.
http://garyentsminger.com/ecosim.htm...
).

As second step, it was applied a correlation analysis between species number with temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, conductivity and altitude, using the software Prisma 5.0.

3. Results

The results revealed a relatively low species number, and notable cladocerans and amphipods occurrence (Table 1). The cladoceran and copepod species Chydorus sphaericus and Mesocyclops araucanus were widespread, whereas the most frequent species of amphipods, Hyalella chiloensisand H. simplex, were frequent in central and southern Patagonia (Table 1). For Balmaceda streams (Table 1), a zone located in semi-arid plain, the most frequent species were C. sphaericus, M. arauanus, H. chiloensis and H. patagonica. For lagoons Verde I, Chiguay, Ardilla, Chacano, Lagoon 1, Lagoon 2, Lagoon 3, Tamango, Laparent, Lagoon 4 and General Carrera, that are located within and in the surroundings of Cerro Castillo National Reserve in a mountain zone, it was found a higher species richness with Daphnids cladocerans, C. sphaericus, B. michaelseni, M. araucanus, H. chiloensis, H. patagonica and H. simplex (Table 1). For ponds located in Coyhaique National Reserve, in a mountain zone close to Coyhaique town (Venus, Verde 2 and De los Sapos), were found cladocerans mainly C. sphaericus and M. araucanus (Table 1). Finally, for Riesco coastal mountains close to Puerto Chacabuco, it was found only D. ambigua and B. michaelseni(Table 1).

The results of null model co-occurrence analysis revealed that the species associations are random in practically all simulations with exception to fixed-equiprobable model of the V-ratio (Table 2).

Table 2.
Results of null model analysis for co-occurrence of species at the studied sites (P < 0.05 denotes random absence).

The correlation analysis revealed significant association between species number with temperature and altitude with species number (Table 3).

Table 3.
Correlation matrix between altitude, total dissolved solids, conductivity, temperature and pH with species number at the studied sites (*= significant correlation).

4. Discussion

It is reported species that are widespread in Patagonia (38-51° S) such as Daphnia ambigua, D. pulex, Scapholeberis exspinifera, Simosa serrulata, Chydorus sphaericus, Leydigia leydigi, Alona pulchella, Mesocyclops araucanus, Hyalella chiloensis and Hyalella patagonica (Table 1; González, 2003GONZÁLEZ, E, 2003. The freshwater amphipods Hyalella Smith, 1874 in Chile (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, vol. 76, no. 4, p. 623-637. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2003000400007
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2003...
; De los Ríos-Escalante, 2010DE LOS RÍOS-ESCALANTE, P., 2010. Crustacean zooplankton communities in Chilean inland Waters. Crustaceana Monographs, vol. 12, p. 1-109.).

Two species from central and southern Patagonia (46-54° S) were reported: Boeckella michaelseni, and Hyalella simplex (Table 1; González, 2003GONZÁLEZ, E, 2003. The freshwater amphipods Hyalella Smith, 1874 in Chile (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, vol. 76, no. 4, p. 623-637. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2003000400007
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2003...
; De los Ríos-Escalante, 2010DE LOS RÍOS-ESCALANTE, P., 2010. Crustacean zooplankton communities in Chilean inland Waters. Crustaceana Monographs, vol. 12, p. 1-109.). These results would agree partially with first descriptions for zooplanktonic crustaceans in Aysen region that reported a kind of a transitional pattern where it is possible to found species from northern and southern Patagonia (Menu-Marque et al. 2000MENU-MARQUE, S., MORRONE, JJ. and LOCASCIO DE MITROVICH, C., 2000. Distributional patterns of South American species of Boeckella (Copepoda, Centropagidae): a track analysis. Journal of Crustacean Biology, vol. 20, no 2, p. 262-272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1651/0278-0372(2000)020[0262:DPOTSA]2.0.CO;2
http://dx.doi.org/10.1651/0278-0372(2000...
; De los Ríos, 2008DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2008. A null model for explain crustacean zooplankton species associations in central and southern Patagonian inland waters. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 25-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008000100002
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008...
). An example can be the presence of three amphipods species: H. chiloensis that is found between 36°-45° S, H. simplex that is found between 38-55° S and H. simplex between 39-53° S (De los Ríos-Escalante et al., 2012).

The results of null model agree with observations of zooplankton species associations based on null model co-occurrence species for southern Patagonian lakes and/or ponds (De los Ríos et al. 2008aDE LOS RÍOS, P., ACEVEDO, P., RIVERA, R. and ROA, G., 2008a. Comunidades de crustáceos litorales de humedales del norte de la Patagonia chilena (38° S): rol potencial de la exposición a la radiación ultravioleta. In VOLPEDO, A. and FERNANDEZ, L. (Eds.). Efecto de los cambios globales en la diversidad. Programa CYTED 406RT0285. p. 209-229.; De los Ríos 2008DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2008. A null model for explain crustacean zooplankton species associations in central and southern Patagonian inland waters. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 25-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008000100002
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008...
) and northern Patagonian mountain lakes and shallow ponds (De los Ríos et al. 2008bDE LOS RÍOS, P., RIVERA, N. and GALINDO, M., 2008b. The use of null models to explain zooplancton species associations in shallow water bodies of the Magallanes region, Chile. Crustaceana, vol. 81, no.10, p. 1219-1228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X374540
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X3745...
,cDE LOS RÍOS, P., ROGERS, DC. and RIVERA, N., 2008c. Branchinecta gaini (Daday, 1910) (Branchiopoda, Anostraca) as a bioindicator of oligotrophic and low conductivity shallow ponds in southern Chilean Patagonia. Crustaceana, vol. 81, no. 9, p. 1025-1034. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X360789
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X3607...
). It is due to the presence of few species repeated in all or practically all sites (De los Ríos et al. 2008aDE LOS RÍOS, P., ACEVEDO, P., RIVERA, R. and ROA, G., 2008a. Comunidades de crustáceos litorales de humedales del norte de la Patagonia chilena (38° S): rol potencial de la exposición a la radiación ultravioleta. In VOLPEDO, A. and FERNANDEZ, L. (Eds.). Efecto de los cambios globales en la diversidad. Programa CYTED 406RT0285. p. 209-229., bDE LOS RÍOS, P., RIVERA, N. and GALINDO, M., 2008b. The use of null models to explain zooplancton species associations in shallow water bodies of the Magallanes region, Chile. Crustaceana, vol. 81, no.10, p. 1219-1228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X374540
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156854008X3745...
, c; De los Ríos 2008DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2008. A null model for explain crustacean zooplankton species associations in central and southern Patagonian inland waters. Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 25-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008000100002
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2008...
). This pattern of species repetition by site in spite of environmental heterogeneity was observed for lakes and ponds in Torres del Paine National Park at 51° S (De los Ríos & Soto, 2009DE LOS RÍOS, P. and SOTO, D., 2009. Estudios limnológicos en lagos y lagunas del Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (51 S, Chile). Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 37, no. 1, p. 63-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2009000100006
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2009...
), and in large scale in lakes and ponds in Magallanes region between 51-53°, including Torres del Paine National Park and Tierra del Fuego island (De los Ríos et al., 2010bDE LOS RÍOS, P., MANSILLA, A. and VEGA, M. 2010b. Species co-occurrences base don a presence/absence null model for copepoda and cladocerans in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego lakes and ponds. Biologia, Bratislava, vol. 65, no. 6, p. 1019-1027. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11756-010-0123-6
http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11756-010-012...
).

Similar results would occur in terrestrial systems (Ribas and Schoereder 2002RIBAS, CR. and SCHOEREDER, JH., 2002. Are all ants mosaics caused by competition? Oecologia, vol. 131, no. 4, p. 606-611. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-002-0912-x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-002-091...
; Sanders et al. 2007SANDERS, NJ., CRUTSINGER, GM., MAJER, RR. and DELABIE, JHC., 2007. An ant mosaic revisited: dominant ant species dissemble arboreal ant communities but co-occur randomly. Biotropica, vol. 39, no. 3, p. 422-427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00263.x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.20...
). Other similar causes what could be related to the homogeneity of the studied habitats (Franca and Araujo 2007), or interactions between species with similar ecological characteristics (Tondoh 2006TONDOH, JE., 2006. Seasonal changes in earthworm diversity and community structure in central Côte d'Ivoire. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 42, supplement 1, p. S334-S340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006.09.003
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2006....
; Tiho and Johens 2007TIHO, S. and JOHENS, J., 2007. Co-occurrence of earthworms in urban surroundings: a null models of community structure. European Journal of Soil Biology, vol. 43, no 2, p. 84-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006.10.004
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j,ejsobi.2006....
). In an opposite scenario, the presence of interspecific competition and ecological differentiation denotes the absence of random patterns in species association (Ulrich 2004ULRICH, W., 2004. Species co-occurrences and neutral models: reassessing J.M. Diamond's assembly rules. Oikos, vol. 107, no. 3, p. 603-609. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12981.x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.20...
; Rodríguez-Fernandez et al. 2006RODRÍGUEZ-FERNANDEZ, JI., BARROS DE CARVALHO, CJ. and MOURA, MO., 2006. Estrutura de asembleias de Muscidae (Diptera) no Paraná: uma análise por modelos nulos. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, vol. 50, no. 1, p. 93-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0085-56262006000100014
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0085-56262006...
). Conversely, the existence of significant effects, expressed in random absence, as it was observed in two simulations, denoted the existence of habitat segregations and resources partition (Costa de Azevedo et al. 2006COSTA DE AZEVEDO, MC., ARAUJO, FG., MACHADO, AL. and DE ARAUJO SILVA, M., 2006. Co-occurrence of demersal fishes in a tropical bay in southeastern Brazil: A null model analysis. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, vol. 66, no. 1-2, p. 315-322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2005.09.006
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2005.09...
).

The lack of correlation between microcrustacean assemblages with conductivity would agree with results observed for inland waters in Southern Patagonia, (Soto and De los Ríos, 2006SOTO, D. and DE LOS RÍOS, P., 2006. Trophic status and conductitivity as regulators of daphnids dominance and zooplankton assemblages in lakes and ponds of Torres del Paine National Park. Biologia, Bratislava, vol. 61, no.5, p. 541-546. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-0088-7
http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-008...
; De los Ríos et al. 2008; De los Ríos and Soto, 2009DE LOS RÍOS, P. and SOTO, D., 2009. Estudios limnológicos en lagos y lagunas del Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (51 S, Chile). Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, vol. 37, no. 1, p. 63-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2009000100006
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-686X2009...
; De los Ríos-Escalante, 2010DE LOS RÍOS-ESCALANTE, P., 2010. Crustacean zooplankton communities in Chilean inland Waters. Crustaceana Monographs, vol. 12, p. 1-109.). This condition would be explained due the low variability range of mineral concentrations observed in many Patagonian inland waters (Pedrozo et al., 1993PEDROZO, F., CHILLRUD, S., TEMPORETTI, P. and DÍAZ, M., 1993. Chemical composition and nutrient limitation in rivers and lakes of northern Patagonian Andes (39.5-42° S, 71° W)(Rep. Argentina). Verhandlungen International Vereinung Angewaldte Limnologie, vol. 25, p. 207-214.) that probably would not affect the community structure. This scenario is different in the northern Chilean Andean inland rivers where the mineral contents variability is high interfering in the species associations (De los Ríos et al., 2010aDE LOS RÍOS, P., ADAMOWICZ, S. and WITT, J., 2010a. Aquatic fauna in the driest desert on earth: first report on the crustacean fauna of the Loa river (Atacama desert, Antofagasta region, Chile). Crustaceana, vol. 83, no. 3, p. 257-266. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/001121609X12596543952333
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/001121609X1259...
).

The obtained results agree with similar observations for Magallanes region inland waters (51-55° S), in terms of biogeographic aspects and community structure. Nevertheless it is necessary more studies in this region for understanding ecological and biogeographical patterns of inland water crustacean species.

The present study was financed by projects DID-UACH d2001-11, CONICYT-Chile (Doctoral Fellowship and Grant for support Doctoral Thesis), project MECESUP UCT 0804, and the Research Direction of the Catholic University of Temuco (Fund for Development of Limnology), CEFOP CONICYT FB0824 and DI08-0040 from the Research Direction of the Universidad de la Frontera, former National Environmental Ministry),

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    Feb 2014

History

  • Received
    8 Jan 2013
  • Accepted
    4 June 2013
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