Ecological studies on algal communities from Tierra del Fuego peat bogs.

MATALONI, G.

HYDROBIOLOGIA

Springer

Lugar: Netherlands; Año: 1999 vol. 391 p. 157 - 171

0018-8158

Microalgal communities from seven water hollows have been studied in six peat bogs located in the southwest of the Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina). The evolution of these systems towards terrestrial conditions includes a gradual increase in conductivity and decrease in pH along a gradient from the open water to the drier surroundings.For the microalgae sampled along these gradients, these changes are reflected by the decrease in species richness and the rise in the relative frequencies of a few taxa well adapted to harsh conditions. Also, all sampling stations from the different water hollows were compared in terms of floristic composition and relative frequencies of the different taxa. Both cluster analysis and Principal Components Analysis revealed marked differences among water hollows for these features, which can be associated with morphometric and chemical parameters related to their evolutionary stage, rather than with their geographical distribution.