The Kukkal basin, Tamil Nadu, India, receives most of its rain from the southwest monsoon (SWM). A sediment core from Kukkal Lake preserves a continuous sediment record from the early-Holocene to present (9000 yr BP to present). The present lake is situated at an elevation of similar to 1887m a.s.l., in a small basin that appears to have alternated between a and wetland depositional environment. Climate proxies, including sediment texture, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N, pollen and geochemical composition indicate a steady progression to wetter conditions, with two stepwise changes at about 8000, and between 3200 and 1800 yr BP. The change at 8000 yr BP appears to correspond to a brief (100-150years) dry spell recorded elsewhere in India. The change at 3200-1800 yr BP consisted in a rapid intensification of the SWM, and may correlate with the initiation of the Roman Warm Period'. There is no clear evidence of changes at the times of the Medieval Warm Period' (MWP') and the Little Ice Age' (LIA'). The C/N ratio of the sediments ranges from 14.02 to 8.31, indicating that the organic matter originated from a mixture of lacustrine algae, vascular and terrestrial plants. Chemical weathering indices (Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW), and Plagioclase Index of Alteration (PIA)) are consistent with extreme silicate weathering. Pollen data show a development from savanna vegetation prior to about 8000 yr BP, followed by grassland with palms, the appearance of ferns just prior to 3200 yr BP and the establishment of the tropical humid forest between 3200 and about 1800 yr BP.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:29:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2880.pdf: 4933136 bytes, checksum: 04da1395a352e195207e8a79539aeb19 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-26 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The studies on the diversity and functional role of benthic macroinvertebrates in lake ecosystems can provide relevant informations regarding the functioning and the health of these freshwater ecosystems. The aim of this study was to analyze the Tropeiros Lake, located in the municipality of Capitólio (MG), performing a limnological evaluation of the ecosystem and ecological investigation on the diversity of the benthic macroinvertebrate community. Thus, changes in the taxonomical composition, abundance, diversity, biomass and the taxa participation in the trophic functional groups were analyzed. Water and sediment were sampled in October 2006 and 2007 (dry periods) and in March 2007 and 2008 (rainy periods). The results evidenced that Tropeiros Lake is a shallow environment with maximum depth of 3 m, densely colonized by macrophytes and with high water transparency. It has low concentration of nitrogen with predominance of the ammonium ion, low concentrations of phosphorus being organic phosphate the predominant compound, low pH values with water varying from neutral to slightly acid and moderate water electrical conductivity. The sediment has high clay and organic matter contents. The Discriminant Analysis separated the sampling periods, grouping the similar rainy periods but separating the dry ones. According to the trophic state index the lake was classified as oligotrophic during the rainy periods and mesotrophic during the dry periods. Benthic community was composed by 81 taxa, mainly represented by the members of the Order Diptera, especially those belonging to the families Chironomidae and Chaoboridae. The trophic guild of collectors was the most representative, with minimum abundance of 57.2%, with the taxa Chironomus sp, Goeldichironomus sp and Tanytarsus sp, followed by that of the predators, having Chaoborus and Ablabesmyia sp as the main taxa. The mean biomass determined for the macroinvertebrate community of Tropeiros Lake was 0.94 g. m-2. Except Chironomus sp, that was abundant, regarding both, numbers and biomass, a different condition was observed for the taxa as Pisidium pulchellum, Melanoides tuberculata and a Libellulidae nymph that were numerically less abundant but contributed significantly for the total biomass. Regarding the trophic guilds, predators was more representative in the periods of October 2006 and March 2007 than the collector guild, in terms of biomass. The same was observed regarding the macroinvertebrates contribution to the biomass in each trophic guild, where predators were more abundant than collectors in October 2006 and March 2007, evidencing the importance of this approach in ecological studies. The method based on K-dominance curves (ABC curves) indicated that Tropeiros Lake is under moderate perturbation according to the cumulative values of abundance and biomass. This results corroborates those obtained for lake trophic state index, based on the mean biomass when compared to environments of different trophic states and with the species composition, formed by both, group of tolerant species as well as those more sensible to adverse environmental conditions. / A diversidade e o papel funcional dos táxons que compõem a comunidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos dos sistemas lacustres podem fornecer informações importantes sobre a saúde e funcionamento destes ecossistemas de água doce. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar limnologicamente a Lagoa dos Tropeiros, em Capitólio (MG), e realizar um estudo ecológico da diversidade dos macroinvertebrados bentônicos, avaliando a densidade, abundância, biomassa e participação dos táxons nas guildas tróficas funcionais. Para isso foram avaliadas as mudanças na composição taxonômica, na diversidade e na ocorrência sazonal da comunidade bentônica desse sistema. As amostras de água e de sedimento foram coletadas em outubro de 2006 e de 2007 (períodos secos) e em março de 2007 e de 2008 (períodos chuvosos). Os resultados indicaram que a lagoa caracterizou-se como sendo um ambiente raso, com profundidade máxima de 3m, grande quantidade de macrófitas aquáticas, elevada transparência da água, reduzidas concentrações de compostos de nitrogênio, com predominância do íon amônio, e baixas concentrações de fósforo com predomínio de fosfato orgânico, valores de pH variando de neutros a ligeiramente ácidos, condutividade moderada e elevados teores de argila e de matéria orgânica no sedimento. A Análise Discriminante evidenciou a separação dos períodos de amostragem, sendo que os períodos chuvosos foram muito semelhantes, diferentemente do observado para os períodos secos que se diferenciaram por diferentes características ambientais. De acordo com o Índice de Estado Trófico a lagoa foi classificada como um ambiente oligotrófico durante os períodos chuvosos e mesotrófico durante os períodos de seca. A comunidade bentônica foi composta por 81 táxons, sendo representada principalmente por organismos pertencentes à ordem Diptera, especialmente das famílias Chironomidae e Chaoboridae. A guilda trófica dos coletores foi a mais representativa, com abundância mínima de 57,2%, sendo os principais representantes os táxons Chironomus sp, Goeldichironomus sp e Tanytarsus sp, seguida pelos predadores com Chaoborus sp e Ablabesmyia sp como os principais táxons. A biomassa média calculada para a comunidade de invertebrados bentônicos na lagoa foi de 0,94 g. m-2. Com exceção de Chironomus sp, que foi abundante em termos de número de indivíduos e também de biomassa, observou-se uma condição diferente para táxons como Pisidium pulchellum, Melanoides tuberculata e uma ninfa de Libellulidae os quais foram pouco abundantes numericamente, mas apresentaram uma elevada participação na composição da biomassa total. O mesmo foi observado para a participação dos macroinvertebrados em biomassa nas guildas tróficas, onde os predadores foram mais abundantes que os coletores em outubro de 2006 e março de 2007, demonstrando a importância dessa abordagem em estudos ecológicos. O método baseado em curvas de k-dominância (curvas ABC) indicou que a Lagoa dos Tropeiros encontra-se moderadamente perturbada, de acordo com os valores cumulativos de abundância de indivíduos e biomassa. Tal resultado confirma aqueles obtidos para o índice de estado trófico, para os valores de biomassa média quando comparados com ambientes de diferentes graus de trofia e com a composição das espécies presentes, formada tanto por grupos tolerantes como também por aqueles mais sensíveis às condições ambientais adversas.

With a volcanic origin, Lake Kivu is deep and meromictic, and shows a very particular limnology and some astonishing features. The data available on its limnology and phytoplanktic communities are limited, dispersed or outdated. This is the first deep, long term study (2002-2004) on limnology and phytoplankton ecology of Lake Kivu, combining different techniques: HPLC analysis of marker pigments, flow cytometry, light, epifluorescence and electron microscopy. Lake Kivu combines a relatively shallow euphotic layer (~18m) usually smaller than its mixed layer (20 – 60 m), and with a weak thermal gradient in the mixolimnion. With an annual average chlorophyll a in the mixed layer of 2.2 mg m-3 and low nutrient levels in the euphotic zone, the lake is clearly oligotrophic. Concerning its phytoplanktonic composition, the most common species were the pennate diatoms Nitzschia bacata Hust. and Fragilaria danica (Kütz.) Lange Bert., and the cyanobacteria Planktolyngbya limnetica (Lemm.) Komárková-Legnerová and Cronberg and Synechococcus sp. Diatoms were the dominant group in the lake, particularly during the dry season episodes of deep mixing. During the rainy season, the stratified water column, with high light and lower nutrient availability, favoured dominance of cyanobacteria. Phycoerythrin-rich phototrophic picoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria cell numbers were constantly high, with relatively subtle spatial, seasonal and vertical variations. In open lake waters, where allochthonous carbon inputs are most probably inconsequential, HNA heterotrophic bacteria abundance is strongly correlated with chlorophyll a. Recent investigations revealed an increasing methane production in the deep waters during the past three decades, leading to an accumulation of gas and the subsequent lowering of the energy required to trigger a devastating release of gasses. The role of primary producers and the probable changes on the export ratio of the organic matter into deep waters after the introduction of the planktivorous sardine from Lake Tanganyika Limnothrissa miodon, is discussed. The actual primary production, 0.71 g C m-2 d-1 (~ 260 g C m-2 y-1), doesn’t seem substantially different from some punctual measurements made in the past, which discards the hypothesis of anthropogenic eutrophication. We believe that the export ratio of organic matter into the deep waters was largely affected by biological changes that could explain part of the methane increase in the past 30 years in Lake Kivu.