Macro-invertebrates Associated with Eichhornia crassipes Roots (Pontederiaceae) in the Ciénaga de Palagua (Colombia) ; Macroinvertebrados asociados a raíces de Eichhornia crassipes (Pontederiaceae) en la Ciénaga de Palagua (Colombia)

Water macro-invertebrates are a well-known group in the flowing-water ecosystems, though they have been poorly studied in the lentic ecosystems. In Colombia, studies about the relationship between this group and the floating macrophyte roots are scarce. Therefore, this work aims to determine association between Eichhornia crassipes and the water macro-invertebrates, and their relationship to the physical-chemical variables such as the dissolved oxygen, pH, total dissolve solids, alkalinity, transparency, copper, water temperature, free chlorine, total chlorine, swamp depth and macrophyte spreading in the Palagua swamp (Colombia). This way, 11.759 macro-invertebrates, belonging to 37 families, were recorded and Planorbidae and Cyclestheriidae were the most abundant. Regarding the physical-chemical parameters, alkalinity showed significant differences regarding the time, while only the macrophyte spreading showed differences regarding the space. In turn, the Spearman coefficient showed a significant but inverse correlation between the swamp depth and the dissolved oxygen. The canonic correspondence analysis indicates that alkalinity and swamp depth are the variables with the greatest influence on the macro-invertebrates. The family diversity reported in the study was high as compared to the data available in the literature. ; Los macroinvertebrados acuáticos son un grupo bien conocido en ecosistemas lóticos, pero poco estudiados en ecosistemas lénticos. En Colombia los estudios sobre la relación de este grupo con las raíces de macrófitas flotantes es escaso, por lo tanto, el objetivo de este trabajo es determinar la asociación entre Eichhornia crassipes y macroinvertebrados acuáticos, y su relación con variables fisicoquímicas, como oxígeno disuelto, pH, sólidos totales disueltos, alcalinidad, transparencia, cobre, temperatura del agua, cloro libre, cloro total, profundidad de la ciénaga y cobertura de la macrófita en la ciénaga de Palagua (Colombia). Se registraron 11.759 macroinvertebrados, pertenecientes a 37 ...