Diversity Patterns Across Aquatic Communities from Peat Bogs in Changing Environmental Scenarios

QUIROGA, M. V.; CASA, V.; GARCÍA, P.E.; KÜPPERS, G.C.; MATALONI, G.

Freshwaters and Wetlands of Patagonia

Springer

Lugar: Cham; Año: 2022;

Peat bogs have an important role in the carbon cycle, they may be sinks orsources of carbon dioxide and methane depending on the environmental conditions.These wetlands represent large reservoirs of freshwater capable of mitigatingdrought-flood events, with important implications for water quality and hydrologicalbalance. The key nature contributions to people provided by these ecosystems aretightly related with the diversity of microbial communities inhabiting them. Peat bogsfrom Tierra del Fuego Island usually host several water bodies embedded within awaterlogged Sphagnum matrix. These aquatic habitats can be considered as extremeenvironments due to their low pH values and dystrophic conditions, and show auniquely adapted biota. In this chapter we unravel the diversity of the aquatic algae,ciliate and microinvertebrate communities from two peat bogs from Tierra del Fuego atdifferent scales. For the different communities analysed, we identified distinct diversity patterns relating to local environmental conditions, as well as taxa of high value asindicators of the possible impact on peat bog diversity exerted by anthropogenicactivities in a global change context.