Abstract

CARRANZA-CASTILLO, Helena; GORDILLO-GUERRA, Jonathan Gerardo  and  REINOSO-FLOREZ, Gladys. Rotifers, copepods, and branchiopods present in a wetland of the Department of Tolima, Colombia. Rev. acad. colomb. cienc. exact. fis. nat. [online]. 2021, vol.45, n.175, pp.421-431.  Epub Sep 13, 2021. ISSN 0370-3908.  https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.1336.

The zooplankton community is highly diverse in the tropical zone. In aquatic ecosystems these organisms play an important role in the energy flow of the food web, also, their high growth rate allows them to respond quickly to environmental changes in the water column. We identified rotifers, copepods, and branchiopods to the lowest taxonomic level possible in a lowland wetland in the Department of Tolima and we estimated their abundance and possible relationships with physicochemical variables. We carried out punctual monthly samplings using a filtering network and we took water samples in each sampling season to analyze the physicochemical and bacteriological variables. Counting and identification were done with the Sedgwick-Rafter sedimentation chamber. The community was composed of 30 genera, rotifers having the best representation with 23 followed by copepods with four, and cladocerans with three. The density of the community could be conditioned by rainfall and macrophytes. At the physicochemical level, alkalinity was the only variable with a significant value in the samplings. Finally, the rotifers had greater diversity, abundance, and richness in all samplings due to their adaptability and dominance in tropical zones such as this one.

Keywords : Rotifers; Cladocerans; Copepods; Wetland; Diversity; Eutrophic.

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