Zooplankton characterisation of Pampean saline shallow lakes, habitat of the Andean flamingoes

Abstract

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Biology of Boeckella poopoensis Marsh, 1906 (Copepoda, Calanoida) in natural conditions in temporary saline lakes of the central Argentina

“…Salinity is an abiotic factor that can determine the zooplankton assemblage of South American aquatic ecosystems (Hurlbert et al 1986, Williams et al 1995, De los Ríos & Crespo 2004, Vignatti 2011, Battauz et al 2013, and therefore, one reason why B. poopoensis was recorded as present from October onwards, might be due to the recorded presence of Boeckella gracilis until the previous month, which is a much less salinity-tolerant species but a potential competitor of B. poopoensis. In these environments, which generate high physiological stress to organisms, species such as B. poopoensis might possess an adaptive advantage, since their ability to tolerate increased salinity allows them to find refuge against competition or predation by some fish (Herbst 2001, Santangelo et al 2008, but not by flamingos (Battauz et al 2013). Therefore, B. poopoensis could be considered a typical species for when temporary lakes have become relatively stable and not for the period of succession that occurs when a new hydroperiod begins.…”

“…Although the lake then became hyposaline (Hammer 1986), the redissolution of salts from sediments caused a three-fold increase in the saline concentration, without large fluctuations in the depth, and thus, the salinity reached the mesosaline level in the last month of the study (Vignatti et al 2012). Salinity is an abiotic factor that can determine the zooplankton assemblage of South American aquatic ecosystems (Hurlbert et al 1986, Williams et al 1995, De los Ríos & Crespo 2004, Vignatti 2011, Battauz et al 2013, and therefore, one reason why B. poopoensis was recorded as present from October onwards, might be due to the recorded presence of Boeckella gracilis until the previous month, which is a much less salinity-tolerant species but a potential competitor of B. poopoensis. In these environments, which generate high physiological stress to organisms, species such as B. poopoensis might possess an adaptive advantage, since their ability to tolerate increased salinity allows them to find refuge against competition or predation by some fish (Herbst 2001, Santangelo et al 2008, but not by flamingos (Battauz et al 2013).…”

“…Boeckella poopoensis has a very wide geographical distribution, from the north of the Patagonian plateau, in Argentina and Chile, to the south of Peru (Menu-Marque et al 2000). Since it is part of the diet of the flamingo Phoenicopterus chilensis Molina, 1782 (Locascio de Mitrovich et al 2005, Battauz et al 2013), De los Ríos- Escalante (2010) proposed that the migration of these birds might have contributed to the wide distribution of this copepod in the South American saline ecosystems.…”

INTERACTION CHILEAN FLAMINGO (Phoenicopterus chilensis) AND ZOOPLANKTONIC CRUSTACEANS: A METACOOMUNITY VIEW POINT

“…It was revised the literature about zooplankton and P. chilensis (Hurlbert et al, 1984(Hurlbert et al, , 1986López, 1990;Parada, 1990;Soto, 1990;Williams et al, 1995;Caziani et al, 1990;;Gibbons et al, 2007;De los Ríos-Escalante, 2010;Echaniz and Vignatti, 2011;Vignatti et al, 2007;Battauz et al, 2013). If we considerate these third main regions on the basis of descriptions of De los Ríos-Escalante (2010): Andean Saline Lakes (14-27° S); Central Argentinean Plains (33°S) and Southern Patagonian plains (51-53° S).…”

“…The main geographical distribution of this species are Andean Altiplano between 14-27° S (Hurlbert et al, 1986, Araya andMillie, 2005), shallow saline and subsaline lakes in Central Argentina (33° S; Romano et al, 2005;Battauz et al, 2013), and shallow lakes in Southern Chilean Patagonia between 51°-53° S (Soto, 1990;Araya and Millie, 2005), and occasionally in ephemeral pools between these main areas (Araya and Millie, 2005).…”