Abstract
The first microfaunal colonization study of continental lakes in Antarctica is reported. In addition to the general taxonomic composition of six Antarctic lakes, detailed community composition analyses of two adjacent lakes, Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare, using polyurethane foam artificial substrates suspended in the open water and placed directly over benthic algal mats are also presented. Protozoans, rotifers, tardigrades and nematodes constituted the microfaunal community in all lakes. Higher metazoans do not occur in lakes that we studied. Protozoans were the most diverse of the four groups, and the first dinoflagellates reported from southern Victoria Land, Gymnodinium and Glenodinium, were collected from Lake Fryxell. The greatest number of protozoan taxa (55) were associated with the algal mats in the more productive Lake Fryxell. Both the physical and chemical properties and taxonomic diversity showed marked variability between all lakes that were studied, especially the adjacent lakes, Fryxell and Hoare. Ecological variables which regulate taxonomic diversity in other lakes of the world also appear to exert similar influences in remote Antarctic lakes.
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Cathey, D.D., Parker, B.C., Simmons, G.M. et al. The microfauna of algal mats and artificial substrates in Southern Victoria Land lakes of Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 85, 3–15 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00011340
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00011340