Abstract

GONZALES, Rosario Karina et al. Method for the estimation of environmental heterogeneity, diversity and structure of aquatic communities in ponds of high-Andean bofedales. Ecología en Bolivia [online]. 2014, vol.49, n.3, pp.56-72. ISSN 1605-2528.

Among the objectives of the BIOTHAW project, the aquatic ecology part aims at characterizing the organization of aquatic communities living in high Andean bofedales with regards to several environmental and social factors that are rapidly changing under climate change. In this paper we propose a methodological framework for the analysis of aquatic communities (zooplankton, metaphyton, macrophytes and benthic invertebrates) at different spatial scales. At a bofedal scale several factors affecting aquatic community structure can be considered, such as habitat area, environmental heterogeneity (average of environmental similarity between pools), percentage of glacier in the watershed, altitude, density of cattle dungs and wetland humidity (e.g., the frequency of streams, fens and pools per unit area). At the pond level, we propose to consider the coverage of macrophytes and the morphometric and physico-chemical characteristics of the water pools. At an intermediate scale (between bofedal and pond), the geographical and environmental distances (physical-chemical and morphometric similarity between pairs of pools) can also be estimated. Our aim in providing such methodology is to facilitate the development of future monitoring plan whit key indicators that can assess the influence of glacier retreat in relation to the biodiversity of ponds in high Andean bofedales.

Keywords : Aquatic communities; Climate change; Local and regional factors.

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