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Response of Chironomidae to environmental disturbances in a high mountain lake in Patagonia during the last millennium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2019

Natalia Williams ,
Diego Añón Suárez ,
Maria Rieradevall ,
Andrea Rizzo ,
Romina Daga ,
María A. Arribére  and
Sergio Ribeiro Guevara
Natalia Williams*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica (UAIN), Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Avenida Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte (CONICET), Bariloche, Argentina
Diego Añón Suárez
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Fotobiologia (CRUB-INIBIOMA), Quintral 1250, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina
Maria Rieradevall
Affiliation:
Grup de Recerca F.E.M. (Freshwater Ecology and Management), Departament d'Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, España IRBio (Institut de Recerca de Biodiversitat), Universitat de Barcelona, España
Andrea Rizzo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica (UAIN), Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Avenida Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte (CONICET), Bariloche, Argentina
Romina Daga
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica (UAIN), Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Avenida Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte (CONICET), Bariloche, Argentina
María A. Arribére
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica (UAIN), Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Avenida Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina Instituto Balseiro, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo-CNEA, Bariloche, Argentina
Sergio Ribeiro Guevara
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica (UAIN), Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Avenida Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina
*
*Corresponding author at: Centro Atómico Bariloche, Avenida Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina. E-mail address: natywilliams86@gmail.com (N. Williams).
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Abstract

Through the last millennium, Patagonia has been affected by changing climate conditions and successive volcanic eruptions. Lake Tonček is a high-altitude lake in the Southern Volcanic Zone in the northern Patagonian Andes. We documented the responses of the subfossil chironomid community to the effects of successive volcanic and different conditions in a sedimentary sequence from this lake comprising the last 900 years. The community composition and structure (abundance, diversity, and richness) and the development of morphological anomalies in the chironomid mouthparts were evaluated throughout the core. Both climatic conditions and volcanism affected the chironomid community differentially. The chironomid community changed following short-term climate change patterns, being affecting not only by temperature changes but also by variations in the regional precipitation regime. Decreases in abundance and diversity were only observed in coarse volcanic layers. In these samples, we recorded a high percentage of damaged chironomid mouthparts caused by mechanical wear, breakage or abrasion, possibly due to the increase of mineral particles. Our results represent important baseline data about the responses of chironomid communities to environmental disturbances in high-altitude lakes over long time frames.

Keywords

ChironomidsBioindicatorsTephra layersClimate changePaleolimnologyNorthern PatagoniaArgentina

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 92 , Issue 2 , September 2019 , pp. 273 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019 

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