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Modern chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) and the environmental variables that influence their distribution in the Araucanian lakes, south-central Chile

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Abstract

Detailed studies of Chironomidae fauna can yield a reliable tool to evaluate the effects of climatic change and anthropogenic disturbances over freshwater ecosystems. Using modern chironomid remains deposited in surface sediment samples of 27 lakes located in south-central Chile (37° S–41° S), we investigated the spatial distribution and diversity of chironomids in association with climatic and limnological variables. Linear methods and ordination analyses were used to select the best explanatory environmental variables that influence the diversity and distribution of chironomids among sites. We identified 52 chironomid taxa, highlighting Tanytarsini-tribe, Ablabesmyia, and Parapsectrocladius as the most common. Our results suggest air temperature as the most important and significant factor controlling the distribution of chironomids among the Araucanian lakes, followed by water temperature, and dissolved oxygen. The diversity of chironomids is negatively correlated with parameters related to lake productivity. Orthocladiinae and Podonominae subfamilies are most frequent in high-altitude lakes associated with cold temperatures, whereas Chironominae and Tanypodinae are characteristic of lowland-lakes influenced by higher temperatures. Human-induced contamination of freshwater ecosystems and the ongoing climate change in south-central Chile represent the main threat to macroinvertebrates communities, and therefore a challenge to predict the trajectories of chironomid assemblages in the near future.

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Acknowledgments

Research funding was provided by The National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) of Chile FONDECYT 11140677 and 1190398 projects (A.M.A.). A.M.C. thanks the Doctoral scholarship programs ANID/2014 21140447 and Doctoral Thesis Completion from Universidad Austral de Chile. G.A.A. thanks the project FONDECYT 3170958. We thank Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) and property owners who granted permission to access the lakes included in this study. We also thank L. Jarpa, M. Tonello, M. Cartagena, D. Osman, J. Campos, and several undergraduate students for their assistance in the fieldworks. Also, we are grateful to C. Vergara and F. Montes de Oca for their taxonomic help with the chironomid determination. Finally, we also thank J. Lopez Mendes, M. Pino, M. González, and the anonymous reviewers that helped to improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Graduados, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile

    Alejandra Martel-Cea

  2. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile

    Alejandra Martel-Cea, Giselle Andrea Astorga, Marjorie Hernández & Ana María Abarzúa

  3. Escuela de Bachillerato en Ciencias y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Patagonia, Coyhaique, Chile

    Giselle Andrea Astorga

  4. Transdisciplinary Center for Quaternary Research (TAQUACH), Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Alejandra Martel-Cea, Giselle Andrea Astorga & Ana María Abarzúa

  5. Instituto de Ciencias Limnológicas y Marinas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile

    Luciano Caputo

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  1. Alejandra Martel-Cea
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  2. Giselle Andrea Astorga
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  5. Ana María Abarzúa
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Correspondence to Alejandra Martel-Cea.

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Martel-Cea, A., Astorga, G.A., Hernández, M. et al. Modern chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) and the environmental variables that influence their distribution in the Araucanian lakes, south-central Chile. Hydrobiologia 848, 2551–2568 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04575-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-021-04575-0

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