El reticulado como metodología para determinar la densidad de la fauna macrobentónica en una laguna pampásica (Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Abstract

A grid as a methodology to assess macrobenthic fauna density in a pampasic pond (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). A grid sampling method was designed in Monte pond (Buenos Aires Province) in order to select representative sampling stations that probably correspond to distributional zones of macro and mesobenthic organisms. The model consists on a series of orthogonal transects across the pond. A sampler instrument was designed to measure the soft sediment thickness as well as the pond depth. A number of 51 cores were collected (one at each sampling site). From the recorded data, the pond bathymetry and the soft sediment areography were analized. The biomass of macro and mesobenthic fauna in different zones of the pond was calculated by multiplying the surface of those zones by the average wet weight obtained from the different sampling units of each zone sampling. A total of 34,514.2 Kg of benthic components was estimated in the 623 Ha of the Monte pond. The most freqcuent organisms were Cladoceran ephippies, Bryozoan statoblasts, Cladocera, Copepoda and Diptera Chironomidae.