Abstract
Aquatic biota in high altitude Andean wetlands is exposed to extreme environmental conditions that influence ecological parameters at population and community levels. We analyzed changes in occurrence, taxa richness and relative abundance of diatom and invertebrate assemblages in four saline wetlands located at the same altitude (approx. 3,330 masl), in the Salar de Antofalla (Catamarca, Argentina). Biological samples were taken seasonally during a 1-year period, together with water variables, which were used in ordination techniques to characterize the sites. Water ionic content and biological variables, such as microcrustacean abundance and diatom richness, were evaluated as possible factors affecting the assemblages’ distribution. The wetlands ranged from meso- to hyperhaline habitats and showed distinctive morphological, physical and chemical characteristics. Diatoms (42 taxa) and invertebrates (15 taxa) were collected from all sites, and diatom taxa richness was negatively correlated with water conductivity. According to multivariate analysis, the distribution of both communities was significantly explained by water hardness, whereas copepod abundance also influenced the diatom flora. We conclude that, at the same altitude and, consequently, UV radiation exposure, variables related to ionic content and/or biological parameters of the aquatic habitat may act as determinants of the biota distribution in these extreme environments.
Highlights
The Argentinian Puna plateau is located at altitudes around 4,000 masl, and constitutes the southern termination of the Andean Altiplano (Auge et al 2006, Ramos 1999)
The environments analyzed are classified as hyperhaline except for Ojos de Campo Naranja (OCA), which can be considered mesohaline (Dejaux 1993)
Each site represented a particular niche for the aquatic biota, which was distributed according to the environmental variables
Summary
The Argentinian Puna plateau is located at altitudes around 4,000 masl, and constitutes the southern termination of the Andean Altiplano (Auge et al 2006, Ramos 1999). The Puna region consists of a set of endorheic basins, separated by N-S trending ranges and transversal volcanic chains. Climatic conditions (low recharges vs high evaporation rates) are the main factor limiting freshwater reservoirs in the Puna (Auge et al 2006, García et al 2013), and they are important for economic activities such as agriculture, cattle raising and mining. Due to the increasing demand of lithium and potassium worldwide, many salares from the Puna region are being explored (Izquierdo et al 2015)
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