Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia

Oliveira, Camila Tâmires Alves; Camargo, Antonio Fernando Monteiro; Silva, Eulene Francisco Da; Henry-Silva, Gustavo Gonzaga; Abstract Aim i) is there a difference in the level of contamination in the different parts of the basin in the water, sediment and aquatic macrophytes compartments? and ii) do the three compartments respond similarly to metal contamination? Methods Samples of water, sediment and aquatic macrophytes (Salvinia auriculata Aubl., Pistia stratiotes L., Ludwigia helminthorrhiza (Mart.) H. Hara and Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) were collected at 10 sampling sites in different stretches of a tropical hydrographic basin. We determined the metal concentrations of Fe, Pb, Ni, Zn, Mn, Cr, Cu and Cd, and to the results we applied Principal Component Analysis (PCA), separately for each compartment, to order the sampling sites. Results Fe and Mn had higher concentrations than other metals in plants and sediment. With the exception of Mn, the order of metals was similar between water and sediment. However, the PCAs ordered the sampling sites differently. Our results demonstrated that the ordering of sampling sites by metal concentrations differs among water, sediment and macrophytes. Conclusions We conclude that to evaluate the contamination of aquatic environments by metals and the effects of contamination on the food chain, it is not enough to evaluate them only in water or sediment, but also in an aquatic community.

Sena, Karoline Aparecida De; Súarez, Yzel Rondon; Abstract Aim Studies of natural variations in fish diet allow, in turn, a better understanding of environmental changes along the hydrological cycle that can affect resources and, hence, biodiversity conservation. With this in mind, the present study aimed to understand how spatial and ontogenetic aspects (using Standard Length as proxy) define dietary composition, trophic position and trophic niche breadth for a small characid (Bryconamericus exodon) in streams located in two rivers of the Brazilian Pantanal. We also assessed whether spatial differences influence the structuring of trophic networks. Methods Fish were sampled monthly in the rainy season (October/2017 to March/2018) in four tributaries of the Negro and Apa Rivers, using different sampling methods. In the laboratory, fish were measured and weighed, followed by excision of stomach for posterior analysis. Results We analyzed 211 individuals, 126 from the Apa River (Standard lengthmin= 11.28mm; Standard lengthmax= 43.53mm) and 85 from the Negro River (Standard lengthmin= 13.26mm; Standard lengthmax= 40.05mm), that consumed mainly aquatic insects (Alimentary indexTotal= 87.97%), followed by terrestrial insects (Alimentary indexTotal= 9.02%). Dietary composition was mainly influenced by spatial variation (Pseudo-F1,194=12.21; p<0.001), followed by ontogenetic variation (Pseudo-F1,190=7.23; p<0.001), however, for trophic niche breadth, we did detect a higher importance of spatial variation (t=4.71; p<0.001) and an absence of ontogenetic variation (t=1.24; p=0.213). No spatial variation was detected for complementary specialization (p=0.998); only connectance showed a significant variation (p=0.047) with higher mean values in the Negro River (C= 0.27 ± 0.016) when compared to those of populations in the Apa River (C=0.22 ± 0.019). In addition, trophic position was not influenced by spatial (t= -1.77; p=0.077) or ontogenetic (t=0.69; p=0.494) variations. Conclusions B. exodon is considered an insectivorous species whose dietary composition can be explained more by spatial than ontogenetic variation.

Flores-Mendez, Daniel Nino; Gutierrez, María Florencia; Abstract: Aims This study aims to analyze the efficiency of two novel methods for ex situ zooplankton hatching experiments, compared with a traditional one. Both proposed methods were specifically designed to minimize sediment resuspension during the sampling of hatched individuals when no previous egg isolation is performed. Methods Sediment samples were collected from shallow lakes, homogenized, and incubated for 18 days under stable laboratory conditions. The traditional method (1M) involved simple water filtration from incubated sediments. The so called “inverted funnel filtering” method (2M) includes an inverted funnel located above the sediment to trap zooplankton that passes through the funnel aperture, and the “levels filtering” method (3M) involves perforated plates above the sediment. The efficiency of each method was evaluated by analyzing the cumulative abundance and number of taxa in hatched total zooplankton, rotifers, and microcrustaceans, as well as the overall composition. Results The new proposed methods significantly favored higher abundances than 1M for total zooplankton and rotifers. Even more, 3M outperformed 2M in the case of microcrustacean hatching abundances. Conclusions Our findings suggest that despite all analyzed methods being suitable for studying zooplankton hatchings, the newly proposed methods incorporating internal structures to minimize sediment resuspension displayed increased capture efficiency.

Martins, Heytor Lemos; Panarelli, Eliana Aparecida; Borges, Jaqueline Souza; Korasaki, Vanesca; Millan, Rodrigo Ney; Abstract: Aim The zooplankton community is used as a bioindicator of environmental changes and can be an indicator of trophic status in aquatic environments through changes in the composition of the community. The objective of this work was to study the variation of shallow reservoir systems in an urban park, evaluating the relationships between physical, chemical, and biological variables. Methods The collections were conducted monthly for a year in the surface of reservoirs. The physical and chemical variables of the water were measured using a multiparametric probe on the surface. Nutrient analysis was performed using spectrophotometry in the laboratory. Zooplankton was collected using a plankton net (60 µm mesh size). Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was used to verify whether the three reservoirs present differences in zooplankton community composition. Results Altogether, 43 taxa belonging to 16 families were collected. Rotifera was the most representative group, with 27 taxa, Cladocera had 13 taxa, and Copepoda had only three taxa. The environmental variables indicated different trophic status between the reservoirs, demonstrating greater eutrophication in reservoirs 1 and 3. An association between the composition of the zooplankton community and the trophic state of the reservoirs was verified. Conclusions The composition of the zooplankton community shows differences among three of the shallow urban reservoirs studied. Reservoir 1 exhibited Filinia terminalis and Asplanchna herrick as indicator species. As for reservoir 2, with a lower trophic status, the indicative species were Bosmina freyi and Diaphanosoma polyspina, correlated with lower concentrations of nitrate, nitrite, total phosphorus, pH, and lower values of electrical conductivity. Reservoir 3 exhibited Brachionus angularis and Brachionus calyciflorus as indicator species, demonstrating a similar nutrient profile to R1, but with higher nitrate concentrations.

Leite, Analy Machado De Oliveira; Molisani, Mauricio Mussi; Oliveira, Renan Monte De; Pontes, Paula Veronesi Marinho; Fonseca, Rodrigo Nunes Da; Menezes, Jackson De Souza; Gomes Neto, Lupis Ribeiro; Esteves, Francisco Assis; Abstract: This study investigates the presence of bacterial dominance in one of the most studied sewage-driven eutrophic coastal lagoons, the Imboassica Lagoon in Macaé (RJ), Brazil, utilizing high-throughput sequencing of 16S rDNA. Water samples were collected from three sites within the lagoon. Total microbial DNA was extracted, and the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform. A total of 744,879 partial 16S rRNA sequences were clustered, revealing the absence of a single bacterial dominance in the sewage-driven eutrophic coastal lagoon. The prominent phyla detected in the lagoon were Cyanobacteria (27.8%), Proteobacteria (23.7%), and Actinobacteria (14.6%). Proteobacteria emerged as the most abundant phylum in the sewage-impacted lagoon site, whereas Cyanobacteria dominated the other two sampling sites. Among families, Synechococcaceae predominated with genus Synechococcus exhibited the highest prevalence. Families of potentially toxic Cyanobacteria represented less than 1% of the total families. The sewage-impacted lagoon section displayed greater bacterial diversity and richness. The dominance of bacterial communities associated with raw sewage, such as members of the Enterobacteriaceae family, was not confirmed, constituting only 0.75% of the families in the most affected site. This study presents the initial analysis of the bacterial community in the Imboassica Lagoon and suggests that dominance in the lagoon responds to the eutrophication and sewage discharge.