Paleoecología: el uso de los quironómidos (Diptera Chironomidae) fósiles en reconstrucciones paleoambientales durante el Cuaternario

MASSAFERRO, J

REVISTA DE LA SOCIEDAD ENTOMOLóGICA ARGENTINA

SOCIEDAD ENTOMOLÓGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2009 vol. 68 p. 209 - 217

0373-5680

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0mm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> ABSTRACT. Pollen, ostracods, diatoms and insects such as beetles and chironomids are the biological indicators from lake sediments more useful in environmental reconstructions. Chironomids have recently reached great importance due to the exciting results obtained regarding climatic reconstructions mainly in Europe and North America. In South America, the use of fossil chironomids in quaternary studies is still limited and the reason of that is the little regional taxonomic knowledge. Most of these studies were developed in glacial lakes in Patagonia in both, Argentina and Chile. The larvae of chironomids are an invaluable paleolimnological tool due to the sensitiveness of these insects to natural and non-natural environmental changes. In addition to that, this group of insects is widely distributed with a high abundance and diversity. Their head capsules can preserve in sediments holding characters which allow their generic and sometimes specific identification. The study of chironomid assemblages can be used with different goals, for instance, to study eutrofication due to their quick response to changes in organic matter, nutrients and heavy metals. However, the one of the powerful applications of the fossil midges is to study climate changes due to the different responses of chironomids to temperature changes. This article is a review of the studies developed in Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia, using fossil chironomids to reconstruct past conditions.