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Multiple stressors trigger ecological changes in tropical Lake La Tembladera (Ecuador)

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Abstract

We examined the relationship between cladoceran, limnological, geological and biological variables in a recent sediment sequence to assess the cladoceran community response to flood conditions and human impacts during the last century in shallow Lake La Tembladera, on the southern coast of Ecuador. We recovered three sediment cores from central and littoral locations to analyze cladoceran subfossils and plant macrofossils. Redundancy analysis identified three environmental variables controlling the assemblage composition: the presence of non-aquatic plants, As and Be concentrations in the sediment. Before AD 1925, the surface area of the lake was smaller than it is now and the most representative cladocerans were Euryalona at lower lake levels and Leydigiopsis at relatively higher lake levels. After ca. AD 1925, anthropogenic works increased the lake level and the expanse of the littoral zone, favoring phytophilous cladocerans such as Kurzia. Around ca. AD 1990, the disposal of mining tailings contaminated with arsenic increased cladoceran sexual reproduction (total chydorid ephippia) and favored certain taxa. Our study shows the influence of anthropogenic activities on hydrologic regime, lake stage and heavy metal contamination and our results indicate the environmental trajectory of this lake, as it shifted from more natural to more impacted conditions in the last century.

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Acknowledgements

CLB acknowledges her grant to the Prometeo Project from the Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de la República del Ecuador (SENESCYT). CLB thanks technicians from Santa Rosa government and population from San José, La Florida and San Agustín for their help during field work and information about the wetland. This work has been partially financed by the Project “Improvement of the conditions of small and artisanal mining in Ecuador” by the SENPLADES (Secretaría Nacional de Planificación y Desarrollo de Ecuador). CLB thanks the support of the Humboldt Foundation while submitting and revising this paper. We acknowledge the contributions of two anonymous reviewers who helped to improve the quality of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ladrón de Guevara E11-253, 170517, Quito, Ecuador

    Charo López-Blanco

  2. INIGEMM (Instituto Nacional de Investigación Geológico, Minero y Metalúrgico), Sector Monteserrín: Las Malvas E15-142 y De los Perales, Quito, Ecuador

    Charo López-Blanco & Andrés Varas

  3. Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26 (IFZ), 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Charo López-Blanco

  4. Land Use and Environmental Change Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-2120, USA

    William F. Kenney

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  1. Charo López-Blanco
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  2. William F. Kenney
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  3. Andrés Varas
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Correspondence to Charo López-Blanco.

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López-Blanco, C., Kenney, W.F. & Varas, A. Multiple stressors trigger ecological changes in tropical Lake La Tembladera (Ecuador). Aquat Ecol 52, 211–224 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-018-9656-5

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