Factores que determinan la colonización de insectos acuáticos en pequeños estanques

Abstract

Factors determining insect colonization of small artificial ponds. Insect colonization was studied in a set of ten small experimental ponds of same size, subjected to different environmental conditions. Correspondence Analysis was employed to analyze the effect of some environmental and life history variables on settlement of insect taxa. The analysis distinguished two groups of species: 1) generalist species that colonized all the ponds studied (except pond X), independently of environmental conditions, and 2) selective species that colonized only some ponds. Among the environmental variables studied, vegetation, substrate, salinity and insolation degree, were important determinants of habitat selection by species. Taxa showed differences in colonization ability based mainly on feeding strategies more than on flight capacity.