Transposição e fragmentação do Rio Piumhi (Bacia do Rio São Francisco, MG): variáveis limnológicas e microcrustáceos zooplanctônicos da Lagoa dos Tropeiros

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the physical and chemical characteristics of Tropeiros Lake (Capitólio, MG), located in Piumhi river sub‐basin, a river diverted from the Rio Grande basin to the são Francisco River basin, and to analize the taxonomic composition, abundance, diversity and the size structure of the planktonic microcrustaceans. Physical and chemical variables in the eater were measured in situ by the multiparameter Horiba U10 probe and qualitative and quantitative zooplankton sampling was carried out in both, pelagic and littoral regions of this lake using the plankton net of 69 μm mesh size, on March, 2007. Twenty seven taxa were identified, being 18 Cladocera, 3 Copepoda Calanoida and 6 Copepoda Cyclopoida. Microcrustaceans species composition in Lagoa dos Tropeiros was much more similar to the microcrustaceans composition of the water bodies from Rio Grande basin than to those from São francisco basin. The species Sarsilatona serricauda Sars, 1901 and Microcyclops alius Kiefer, 1935 constitute new records for the state of Minas Gerais biota. The assemblages from of microcrustaceans from the littoral region had higher richness of species, higher alfa diversity, and wider size spectra than the assemblages from the pelagic region. The analysis of the normalized size spectra and linear regression analysis indicated that Lagoa dos Tropeiros has a community away from the stationary state. The accumulated curves of numerical abundance and biomass (ABC curves) were different for the lake regions characterizing the pelagic region as a non‐disturbed compartment and the littoral region as a disturbed system. The gamma parameter derived from rank‐abundance diagram slopes characterized the microcrustacean assemblage of Lagoa dos Tropeiros as typical of a low trophic state environment.