Littoral Crustaceans in Lakes of Conguillio National Park (38°S), Araucania Region, Chile

Abstract

The water bodies located in the southern Andes are mainly characterized by their relatively great depth and large surface in combination with oligotrophy and glacial origin (Steinhart et al., 2002). In the same area, there are numerous small oligotrophic lakes in high mountain valleys, located in zones with native forests composed of Nothofagus alpina (Poepp. & Endl.), N. pumilio (Poepp. & Endl.) Krasser, N. dombeyi (Mirb.) Oerst., and Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch (cf. Marticorena & Rodriguez, 1995, 2003; Pauchard & Alaback, 2004). Also between 40 and 41?S, Eitzroya cupressoides Mol. (Johnston) is abundant and coexists with N. dombeyi, Drymis winteri J. R. Forst & G. Forst, and Eucryphia cordifolia Cav. in mountain zones (Marticorena & Quezada, 1985; Marticorena & Rodriguez, 1995, 2001, 2003; Steinhart et al., 1999). Many of these lakes are located in zones protected by the Chilean government (Steinhart et al., 2002; De los R?os et al., 2007), and many also present problems in accessing them as access to the water bodies is invariably possible only by walking along mountain paths (Steinhart et al., 2002; De los Rios et al., 2007). The present study was done in Conguillio National Park, an area protected by the Chilean government and characterized by the presence of mainly Araucaria araucana, coexisting there with Nothofagus ant?rctica (G. Forst) Oerst., N. pumilio, and N. dombeyi (cf. Pauchard & Alaback, 2004). This park is located in the surroundings of the active Llaima volcano, and the activity of this volcano has determined both the kind of forest communities (Pollman, 2003; Mu?oz-Pedreros et al., 2007), and the aquatic biota of the local water bodies (Araneda et al., 2007). The studied site was visited in February and March 2007, and four lakes were taken into consideration: the lakes Verde, Arcoiris, Conguillio, and Captren (table I). Horizontal hauls were made in the littoral zones with an Apstein net with 20 cm mouth diameter and 100 /xm