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The Application of Chironomid Pupal Exuvial Technique (CPET) for Ecological Analysis in a Neotropical Large River System

  • Ecology, Behavior and Bionomics
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Abstract

This field ecological study, based on the chironomid pupal exuvial technique (CPET), is new for the Paraná River and proposes an efficient tool to be used in future ecological approaches and biomonitoring. Drifting of pupal exuviae in a river-floodplain system of the Middle Paraná River floodplain was represented by 34 Chironomidae taxa, being the characteristic association obtained from the CPET: Lopescladius, Onconeura, Paralauterborniella, Polypedilum, and Harnischia complex. Diversity, richness, dominance, total density, and density of dominant taxa were different between the longitudinal and lateral dimensions but not between hydrologic phases, with a greater diversity and richness in the main channel of the river and higher density and dominance in floodplain habitats. The species turnover is the dominant process in structuring studied assemblages in spatial and temporal analysis, increasing in the floodplain habitats and in low-water phase. The results obtained showed that drifting exuviae in the longitudinal axis were coming from different assemblages and environments of a wider area (regional), while exuviae recorded in the connections of the floodplain environments in the lateral dimension could reflect the local assemblages. We demonstrated the ecological value of CPET studies to interpret the attributes of Chironomidae assemblage in river-floodplain systems of large rivers in an integrated way.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by CAI+D 2011-535 (Universidad Nacional del Litoral) and PICT (Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica) 2012-2095. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and Mercedes Marchese for the critical reading of their article and their valuable suggestions, which contributed to improve the manuscript. We thank Mónica Cavilia and Proof Reading Service for language assistance. We are also grateful to Esteban Creus and Eduardo Lordi for their field assistance and Leticia Mesa for her assistance in the statistical analyses. This paper is Scientific Contribution No. 972 of the Instituto de Limnología “Raúl A. Ringuelet” (ILPLA, UNLP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab de Zoología Aplicada, Anexo Vertebrados (FHUC-UNL/MASPyMA), Santa Fe, Argentina

    A P Mestre

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    A P Mestre, A C Paggi & L Montalto

  3. Depto de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias (FHUC-UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe, Argentina

    A P Mestre & L Montalto

  4. Lab de Bentos, Instituto de Limnología Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet (ILPLA CONICET-UNLP), La Plata, Argentina

    A C Paggi

  5. Lab de Bentos, Instituto Nacional de Limnología (INALI, CONICET-UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Fe, Argentina

    L Montalto

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  1. A P Mestre
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  2. A C Paggi
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  3. L Montalto
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Correspondence to L Montalto.

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Edited by Edison Ryoiti Sujii – Embrapa/Cenargen

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Mestre, A.P., Paggi, A.C. & Montalto, L. The Application of Chironomid Pupal Exuvial Technique (CPET) for Ecological Analysis in a Neotropical Large River System. Neotrop Entomol 47, 619–627 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0562-7

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