This study examines the limnology and ecology of two high altitude wetlands, Lirima (19°51'24 S; 68°55'02 W; 4000 m asl) and Caya (20°37'21 S; 68°58'28 W; 3700 m asl), located in the Chilean Altiplano. Both wetlands are formed by the evaporitic remnant basins of paleolakes which occupied an extensive area of what today is known as the Altiplano. These systems have a negative hydrological balance, receiving their water from groundwater, snow melt and limited seasonal rains. An ongoing negative water balance and the sediment characteristics in the region have accelerated the salinization process in these systems, as shown by their present physicochemical characteristics. Nutrient values were typical of mesotrophic to eutrophic systems. The ionic content classifi es Lirima as a sodium sulfated wetland and Caya as a calcium chloride one. Conductivity values ranged between 778 μS/cm at Lirima to 2100 μS/cm at Caya, and were refl ected in the differences in biodiversity found in these systems. The Lirima wetland supports a population of the endemic fi sh Orestias aff. agassii found in several Evolutionary Signifi cant Units (ESU) across the region. Microbial diversity in the water column was characterized by the presence of 5 bacterial phyla and related genera (e.g. Psychrobacter, Bacillus, Eryhtobacter, Halomonas). We present information on several key ecosystem components including macrophytes, plankton, benthos, fi sh and birds. This descriptive paper highlights the unusual limnological and biological characteristics of high altitude wetlands and highlights the importance of describing their biological communities across levels of organisation (e.g. microbial through to higher vertebrates) as well as their functional role, interactions and sensitivity to changes in water availability. KEYWORDS:Altiplano, biodiversity, endemism, evolutionary signifi cant units, salinity. RESUMENEste estudio examina la limnología y ecología de dos lagos de altura, los humedales de Lirima (19°51'24 S; 68°55'02 W; 4000 m asl) y Caya (20°37'21 S; 68°58'28 W; 3700 m asl) que están ubicados en el Altiplano Chileno, representando cuencas evaporíticas remanentes de antiguos paleolagos los cuales ocuparon una amplia zona en lo que hoy conocemos como Altiplano. Estos sistemas tienen un balance hídrico negativo, recibiendo su agua desde fuentes freáticas, derretimiento de nueves y escasas lluvias estacionales. Las características del suelo junto con la demanda de agua en la región han acelerado el proceso desalinización en estos sistemas siendo refl ejado en las características químicas actuales. Los valores de nutrientes fueron típicos de sistemas mesotrófi cos a eutrófi cos. El contenido iónico clasifi ca Lirima como un humedal sodio sulfatado y el humedal de Caya como un humedal de cloruro de calcio. Los valores de conductividad fl uctuaron entre 778 μS/cm en Lirima a 2100 μS/cm en Caya, refl ejándose en las diferencias de biodiversidad encontrada en estos sistemas. El humedal de Lirima conserva el pez endémico Orestias que represe...

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a b s t r a c t 1. Nestedness has been recognized as a characteristic pattern of community organization. In a nested metacommunity, species-poor sites are proper subsets of relatively richer sites, implying that the conservation of many poor habitats can be ineffective. 2. Here we compiled the last 30 years of published limnological research on Chilean lakes, in order to determine whether or not species distribution of freshwater plankton communities exhibit a nested structure, and which habitat features best explain the observed biogeographic order. 3. We built presence-absence matrices for diatoms, green algae, blue-green algae, cladocerans, copepods, rotifers, as well as for the grouped phytoplankton and zooplankton. For each matrix, we calculated their degree of nestedness and tested whether or not they differ from matrices assembled according to two alternative null models. From nestedness results, we identified a minimal set of lakes that contain 75% of the regional species pool. After that, we evaluated whether nestedness is maintained when the community structure is organized according to latitude, altitude, area and isolation of lakes. 4. Our analyses reveal that total phytoplankton, total zooplankton, as well as diatom, cladoceran, copepod, and rotifer assemblages of Chilean lakes are not randomly assembled but highly nested. Conversely, green and blue-green algae did not show a clear nested structure. A few sites (3-5) ranked by nestedness for each taxonomic group, covered 75% of the species pool. Finally, we found that surface area and isolation of lakes were the two variables more likely to affect nestedness.

During the last decades, limnological studies on Chilean systems have contributed to know the species composition and main environmental variables of many water bodies distributed over a wide latitudinal interval, from 18º to 53º S. However, we still lack of a comprehensive view about the structure and functioning of regional freshwaters. In this work we review the available information about pelagic biota from Chilean basins, in order to reveal patterns of species distribution and their possible association with environmental variables. We built presence-absence matrices for phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish over lakes and basins. From this database, we performed parsimony analysis of endemicity as a tool for determining fundamental distribution patterns of freshwater biota. Also, we assessed the relationship between species occurrences and some available site-related variables. Our results indicated that latitude exerted the strongest influence on species distribution, although altitude, longitude, and area also exerted significant effects for some groups. On the other hand, our results suggest a relationship between the degree of vagility of the groups and the degree of metacommunity structuring, related to the number of endemicity areas.Key words: limnology, lakes, plankton, biogeography, Chile, CCA. RESUMENDurante las últimas décadas, los estudios limnológicos en sistemas chilenos han contribuido al conocimiento de la composición de especies y de las principales variables ambientales de muchos cuerpos de agua distribuidos sobre un amplio intervalo latitudinal, desde los 18º a los 53º S. Asimismo, aún carecemos de una visión comprensiva acerca de la estructura y funcionamiento de las aguas dulces regionales. En este trabajo revisamos la información sobre la biota pelágica de las cuencas de Chile, con el propósito de revelar patrones de distribución de especies y su posible asociación con variables ambientales. Construimos matrices de presencia-ausencia para fitoplancton, zooplancton y peces en lagos y cuencas. Desde esta base de datos realizamos análisis de parsimonia de endemismo, como medio para determinar patrones fundamentales de distribución de la biota dulceacuícola. También, determinamos la relación entre la presencia de especies y algunas variables relevantes de los sitios. Nuestros resultados sugieren que la latitud ejerce una fuerte influencia en la distribución de especies, aunque también la altitud, longitud y el área ejercen efectos significativos en algunos grupos. Por otro lado, los resultados sugieren una relación entre el grado de vagilidad de los grupos y el grado de estructuración de la metacomunidad, relacionada con el número de áreas de endemismos.

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