scholarly journals Responses of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities of Two Tropical, High-Mountain Lakes to Climate Change and Deacidification

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Javier Alcocer ◽  
Luis A. Oseguera ◽  
Diana Ibarra-Morales ◽  
Elva Escobar ◽  
Lucero García-Cid
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
La Luna

High-mountain lakes are among the most comparable ecosystems globally and recognized sentinels of global change. The present study pursued to identify how the benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) communities of two tropical, high mountain lakes, El Sol and La Luna, Central Mexico, have been affected by global/regional environmental pressures. We compared the environmental characteristics and the BMI communities between 2000–2001 and 2017–2018. We identified three principal environmental changes (the air and water temperature increased, the lakes’ water level declined, and the pH augmented and became more variable), and four principal ecological changes in the BMI communities [a species richness reduction (7 to 4), a composition change, and a dominant species replacement all of them in Lake El Sol, a species richness increase (2 to 4) in Lake La Luna, and a drastic reduction in density (38% and 90%) and biomass (92%) in both lakes]. The air and water temperature increased 0.5 °C, and lakes water level declined 1.5 m, all suggesting an outcome of climate change. Contrarily to the expected acidification associated with acid precipitation, both lakes deacidified, and the annual pH fluctuation augmented. The causes of the deacidification and the deleterious impacts on the BMI communities remained to be identified.

scholarly journals Organochlorine Pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in High Mountain Lakes, Mexico

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana García-Solorio ◽  
Claudia Muro ◽  
Isaías De La Rosa ◽  
Omar Amador-Muñoz ◽  
Guadalupe Ponce-Vélez
Keyword(s):  
Polychlorinated Biphenyls ◽  
Organochlorine Pesticides ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
Tubifex Tubifex ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Endosulfan Sulphate ◽  
La Luna

Abstract Pollution levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were investigated in the El Sol and the La Luna alpine lakes. The lakes are located in central Mexico, in the crater of the Nevado de Toluca volcano. The El Sol and the La Luna lakes are extremely relevant in Mexico and in the world because they are recognized as pristine regions and environmental reservoirs. Samples of atmospheric aerosol, sediment, plankton, and Tubifex tubifex were collected at three different sample locations for three years (2017, 2018, and 2019) at three different times of year, meaning that the weather conditions at the time of sampling were different. Pollutants were analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry with negative chemical ionisation (GC-MS/NCI). Endosulfan was the most frequent and abundant pollutant, showing the highest peaks of all. Atmospheric aerosol revealed Σ2 = 45 pg/m3, including α and β, while sediment lakes displayed α, β and endosulfan sulphate as Σ3 = 1963 pg/g, whereas plankton and Tubifex tubifex showed Σ2 = 576 pg/g and 540 pg/g for α and β respectively. Results of endosulfan ratios (α/β) and (α-β/endosulfan sulphate) suggest that both fresh and old discharges continue to arrive at the lakesThis study shows for the first time the pollution levels of OCP and PCB in high mountain lakes in Mexico. These results that must be considered by policy makers to mitigate their use in the various productive activities of the region.

scholarly journals Photoprotective compounds in zooplankton of two adjacent tropical high mountain lakes with contrasting underwater light climate and fish occurrence

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Javier Alcocer ◽  
Clara N Delgado ◽  
Ruben Sommaruga
Keyword(s):  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
Underwater Light ◽  
Underwater Light Climate ◽  
Geological Origin ◽  
La Luna

Abstract We compared temporal changes in the concentration of photoprotective compounds (PCs) in zooplankton of two adjacent (600 m apart) tropical high mountain lakes, El Sol and La Luna. The lakes have the same geological origin, age and drainage basin. However, they differ in underwater light and UV penetration and in the presence of Oncorhynchus mykiss, only found in El Sol. Whereas Daphnia ambigua from the clear La Luna had carotenoids and melanin, in El Sol, the same species lacked pigmentation. The copepod Leptodiaptomus cuauhtemoci was only found in El Sol and relied on accumulation of MAAs and carotenoids. The maximum concentration of PCs was found over the period with highest incident ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Our data suggest that tropical species of zooplankton respond to UVR by accumulating PCs that are too different in relation to exposure to UVR. However, we cannot discard the possibility that the presence of fish in Lake El Sol influences also their phenotypical and behavioral responses. Overall, zooplankton exhibited an ample phenotypic plasticity in the type and concentrations of PCs in response to the high and variable doses of UVR prevailing in low-latitude lakes, similar to the zooplankton of their high-latitude counterparts.

Water level fluctuations may decrease phosphate adsorption capacity of the sediment in oligotrophic high mountain lakes

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 651 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inmaculada de Vicente ◽  
Frede Østergaard Andersen ◽  
Hans Christian Bruun Hansen ◽  
Luis Cruz-Pizarro ◽  
Henning Skovgaard Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Adsorption Capacity ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Phosphate Adsorption ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountain Lakes

scholarly journals High mountain lakes of the Central Range (Iberian Peninsula): Regional limnology & environmental changes

Limnetica ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-252
Author(s):  
Manuel Toro ◽  
I. Granados ◽  
S. Robles ◽  
C. Montes
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountain Lakes

scholarly journals High mountain lakes: extreme habitats and witnesses of environmental changes

Limnetica ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 551-584
Author(s):  
Jordi Catalan ◽  
L. Camarero ◽  
M. Felip ◽  
S. Pla ◽  
M. Ventura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
Extreme Habitats

Reconstructing recent environmental changes using non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) in two high mountain lakes from northern Patagonia, Argentina

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Montes de Oca ◽  
Luciana Motta ◽  
María Sofía Plastani ◽  
Cecilia Laprida ◽  
Andrea Lami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Northern Patagonia

scholarly journals Interactive effects of vertical mixing, nutrients and ultraviolet radiation: in situ photosynthetic responses of phytoplankton from high mountain lakes in Southern Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1037-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. W. Helbling ◽  
P. Carrillo ◽  
J. M. Medina-Sánchez ◽  
C. Durán ◽  
G. Herrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
National Park ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Nutrient Input ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
Photosynthetic Responses

Abstract. Global change, together with human activities, has resulted in increasing amounts of organic material (including nutrients) that water bodies receive. This input further attenuates the penetration of solar radiation, leading to the view that opaque lakes are more "protected" from solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) than clear ones. Vertical mixing, however, complicates this view as cells are exposed to fluctuating radiation regimes, for which the effects have, in general, been neglected. Furthermore, the combined impacts of mixing, together with those of UVR and nutrient inputs are virtually unknown. In this study, we carried out complex in situ experiments in three high mountain lakes of Spain (Lake Enol in the National Park Picos de Europa, Asturias, and lakes Las Yeguas and La Caldera in the National Park Sierra Nevada, Granada), used as model ecosystems to evaluate the joint impact of these climate change variables. The main goal of this study was to address the question of how short-term pulses of nutrient inputs, together with vertical mixing and increased UVR fluxes modify the photosynthetic responses of phytoplankton. The experimentation consisted in all possible combinations of the following treatments: (a) solar radiation: UVR + PAR (280–700 nm) versus PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) alone (400–700 nm); (b) nutrient addition (phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N)): ambient versus addition (P to reach to a final concentration of 30 μg P L−1, and N to reach N:P molar ratio of 31); and (c) mixing: mixed (one rotation from surface to 3 m depth (speed of 1 m 4 min−1, total of 10 cycles)) versus static. Our findings suggest that under ambient nutrient conditions there is a synergistic effect between vertical mixing and UVR, increasing phytoplankton photosynthetic inhibition and excretion of organic carbon (EOC) from opaque lakes as compared to algae that received constant mean irradiance within the epilimnion. The opposite occurs in clear lakes where antagonistic effects were determined, with mixing partially counteracting the negative effects of UVR. Nutrient input, mimicking atmospheric pulses from Saharan dust, reversed this effect and clear lakes became more inhibited during mixing, while opaque lakes benefited from the fluctuating irradiance regime. These climate change related scenarios of nutrient input and increased mixing, would not only affect photosynthesis and production in lakes, but might also further influence the microbial loop and trophic interactions via enhanced EOC under fluctuating UVR exposure.

scholarly journals Phytoplankton Biodiversity in Two Tropical, High Mountain Lakes in Central Mexico

Diversity ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Estela Cuna ◽  
Javier Alcocer ◽  
Martha Gaytán ◽  
Margarita Caballero
Keyword(s):  
Phytoplankton Community ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
High Mountain Lakes ◽  
Phytoplankton Diversity ◽  
Nevado De Toluca ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
La Luna

Lakes El Sol and La Luna, inside the crater of the Nevado de Toluca volcano, Central Mexico, are the only two perennial high mountain lakes [HML] in the country. HML are considered among the most comparable ecosystems worldwide. These lakes are “extreme” environments with diluted, oligotrophic, and cold waters exposed to high UV radiation doses. In this paper, we document the phytoplankton species inhabiting these two extreme tropical ecosystems. The phytoplankton diversity of Lakes El Sol and La Luna is low compared to the global phytoplankton diversity from other Mexican inland waters. Nonetheless, the phytoplankton diversity turned out to be high compared to other HML worldwide, both temperate and tropical. The phytoplankton community in Lake El Sol was formed by 92 morphospecies and in Lake La Luna by 63; in both, the most diverse groups were Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae. All species found in Lake La Luna were present in Lake El Sol, but 29 species present in Lake El Sol were absent in Lake La Luna. Nevertheless, 57% of the most frequent and abundant taxa in Lake El Sol were rare in La Luna, and 47% of the most frequent and abundant taxa in Lake La Luna were rare in Lake El Sol. Associated with their shallowness and polymictic thermal pattern, 87.5% of the Bacillariophyceae morphospecies are tychoplantonic, while the remaining 12.5% are truly planktonic. Dominant taxa were Chlorophyceae in Lake El Sol and Cyanobacteria in Lake La Luna. The most extreme conditions of Lake La Luna (ultraoligotrophy, very low pH, high ultraviolet radiation) most likely explained the differences in the dominant species composition and lower species richness compared to Lake El Sol. Herein, we provide for the first time a taxonomic list of the phytoplankton community of Lakes El Sol and La Luna. This information constitutes a baseline needed to use these HML as sentinels of global and climate change.

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