CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Coastal zones are widely recognised as being particularly vulnerable to future environmental change and are frequently under stress because of human population growth and coastal socio-economic development. Coastal water bodies present a high rate of dynamic changes in the natural environment and high biological productivity and diversity. There is now ample evidence of the ecological impacts of recent climate change, from polar terrestrial to tropical marine environments. Zooplankton represents a crucial link between primary producers and consumers at higher trophic levels. Lipids, particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), are indispensable for the reproduction and growth of animals. Zooplankton species of cold and temperate waters present large store of lipids, whereas tropical species have generally lower lipid reserve. Moreover, increasing the amount of PUFA in phospholipids is reported as an important mechanism in regulating membrane fluidity at low temperatures. The last mechanism was observed in the zooplankton of Lake Chasicó, a coastal water body in the Pampa region of Argentina. The zooplankton biodiversity of this lake was low and the calanoid copepod Boeckella poopoensis was the main species in abundance and biomass. Higher temperatures may increase the tropical species distribution and decrease the lipid amount or PUFA content of zooplankton. Furthermore, climate change will mimic some of the effects of eutrophication (e.g. toxic blooms and anoxia). A link exists between global warming and the worldwide proliferation of harmful cyanobacterial blooms. Cyanobacteria are low in PUFA, which could decouple the trophic webs and be detrimental for the growth of zooplankton and fish.