Eichornia azurea associated Chironomidae (Diptera) in six lagoons to the river side Paranapanema, state of São Paulo, Brazil

• Grant number: 12/06636-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Raoul Henry
• Grantee: Natalia Kaori Araki
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The community of aquatic fauna and flora in Brazil has great wealth and resource potential to be known by society. Currently, its characteristics are often considered important and influential factors in monitoring and conservation studies - among other more specific activities - the various ecosystems of inland waters among them the Paranapanema River. Due to its great importance in the hydrological and energetic system in the state of São Paulo and Paraná, Rio Paranapanema has a high demand for carrying out periodic monitoring in order to maintain and better manage and control the fauna and flora pertaining to it. Among the environments found along its way are the border lakes which may have different morphometric, biotic and abiotic characteristics providing different environments for a study of the ecological dynamics of the concerning rivers and its associated lakes. Many studies indicate that the inter-relationship between the insects and aquatic macrophytes has a great influence on the local ecological dynamics favoring the maintenance of communities and the energy and materials flow from the environment. Thus, the necessity to inventory such communities is essential for further and profound studies of the environment dynamic. Considering that the family Chironomidae is the most common in quantitative and qualitative studies of macroinvertebrates in other regions of the world and the possibility of the use of their information in different research areas and actuation (environmental monitoring, agricultural entomology, evolutionary genetics, paleoecological research, public health among others) this proposal has the objective to inventory the Chiromidae fauna in six border lakes of Rio Paranapanema with further analysis of the influence of the environmental conditions on the composition, wealthiness, and abundance of its community.(AU)