Relations among planktonic rotifers, cyclopoid copepods, and water quality in two Brazilian reservoirs

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Planktonic rotifers and cyclopoid copepods were studied in two reservoirs of different trophic states (eutrophic and oligo/mesoeutrophic) in the south of Brazil. During a year, monthly samplings were carried out in three stations in each reservoir. Species richness, frequency and abundance were used to find out useful and indicatives trends of water quality based on these organisms, reinforced by literature data. Species that showed higher differences between reservoirs were chosen. For Rotifera, richness, frequency and abundance of Brachionus were higher in the eutrophic reservoir, but Plationus patulus occurred only in the oligo/mesotrophic reservoir. For copepods, Tropocyclops prasinus dominated in the eutrophic reservoir, but Thermocyclops decipiens, T. minutus, T. inversus and Microcyclops anceps were dominants in the oligo/mesotrophic reservoir. In the canonical correspondence analysis, these species were indicators of the trophic state and were related with chlorophyll-a, total phytoplankton and total phosphorus. The use of these species can be efficient in the studied regions (subtropical/temperate), but comparing with other Brazilian reservoirs of tropical climate, the results could be different. Despite the dominance of T. decipiens over T. minutus, T. inversus has been widely used in Brazil as an indicator of eutrophic waters; in those cases of excessive eutrophication, other species, more rustic, commonly dominate. In the present study, Thermocyclops was dominant in the oligo/mesotrophic reservoir. The dominance of Brachionus for rotifers and Tropocyclops prasinus and Acanthocyclops robustus for copepods were indicative of eutrophic conditions. Keywords: abundance, bioindicators, diversity, evenness, species richness, Brazil.Relaciones entre los rotíferos, copépodos planctónicos ciclopoides y la calidad del agua en dos embalses brasileños RESUMEN. Se analizaron los rotíferos y copépodos planctónicos ciclopoides colectados en dos embalses de diferentes estados tróficos (eutróficos y oligo/mesoeutróficos) en el sur de Brasil. Durante un año, se efectuaron muestreos mensuales, en tres estaciones en cada embalse. La riqueza de especies, frecuencia y abundancia, se utilizó para determinar tendencias útiles e indicativas de la calidad del agua sobre la base de estos organismos, complementando con datos de la literatura. Se escogieron aquellas especies que presentaron las mayores diferencias. Para rotíferos, la riqueza, frecuencia y abundancia de Brachionus fueron más altas en el embalse eutrófico, Plationus patulus se detectó sólo en el embalse oligo/mesotrófico. Para los copépodos, Tropocyclops prasinus dominó en el embalse eutrófico, mientras que Thermocyclops decipiens, T. minutus, T. inversus y Microcyclops anceps dominaron en el embalse oligo/mesotrófico. En el análisis de correspondencia canónica, estas especies fueron indicadoras del estado trófico y se relacionaron con la clorofila-a, fitoplancton total y fósforo total. El uso de estas especies puede ser eficaz en las regiones estudiadas ...

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