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Diversity of chironomid larvae in palustrine wetlands of the coastal plain in the south of Brazil

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Abstract

The Chironomidae of tropical South America are a very rich species, but are scarcely known. The range of environmental conditions under which chironomids are found is more extensive than that of any other group of aquatic insects. The objectives of this study were to carry out a diversity survey of chironomid larvae in wetland systems of the coastal plain in the south of Brazil and to analyze the effects of area, altitude, water conductivity, nitrate and phosphorus concentrations, and the life form of the dominant plant species on chironomid richness and composition. Collections were carried out from March to April in 2002. A total of 30 taxa (23 morphospecies and 7 species) distributed along 23 genera were found, and the Chironominae showed the greatest richness, followed by Tanypodinae and Orthocladiinae. The chironomid richness was higher in the emergent than in the multistratified wetland class. The wetland area, altitude, nitrate and phosphorus concentrations, and water conductivity did not influence the richness of Chironomidae. The Chironomidae genera and species were present in both the wetland classes (emergent and aquatic bed vegetation). However, while Chironominae were more frequent in the emergent than in the aquatic bed wetlands, no difference was observed for Tanypodinae. The aquatic vegetation was an important environmental predictor for chironomid larvae richness in the studied wetlands in the south of Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservaæão de Ecossistemas Aquáticos, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, UNISINOS. Av. Unisinos, 950, CEP 93022-000, São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Álan Panatta, Cristina Stenert & Leonardo Maltchik

  2. Laboratório de Invertebrados Bentônicos I, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Suzana Maria Fagondes de Freitas

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  1. Álan Panatta
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  2. Cristina Stenert
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  3. Suzana Maria Fagondes de Freitas
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  4. Leonardo Maltchik
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Correspondence to Leonardo Maltchik.

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Panatta, Á., Stenert, C., Fagondes de Freitas, S.M. et al. Diversity of chironomid larvae in palustrine wetlands of the coastal plain in the south of Brazil. Limnology 7, 23–30 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-005-0160-y

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