Spatial variability of chironomid death assemblages in the surface sediments of a fluctuating tropical lake (Lake Naivasha,Kenya) |
| |
| Authors: | Hilde Eggermont Patrick De Deyne Dirk Verschuren |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium |
| |
| Abstract: | Studies addressing within-lake variability of fossil chironomid assemblages are very few, and all deal with hydrologically
stable temperate lakes where the question of spatial integration mostly relates to the mixing of faunal assemblages associated
with shallow, warm-water habitat and those associated with deeper, cold-water habitat. Here we study within-lake variability
of surface-sediment chironomid assemblages in the fairly large (∼100–170 km2 since 1983) and shallow (Z
max = 5–8 m) fluctuating tropical lake basin of Lake Naivasha, Kenya, and compare the patterns observed with those in two smaller
adjacent basins, one similarly shallow (Lake Oloidien, 5.1–5.7 km2, 5–8 m), the other deep and stratified (Crescent Island
Crater, 1.9 km2, 14–17 m). Chironomid assemblages were analysed in core-top samples and surface sediments along inshore to offshore transects,
and how well individual samples represented the total (basin-wide mean) subfossil assemblage was considered both in terms
of taxon richness and taxon percent composition. Within-lake variability of subfossil chironomid concentrations (with generally
higher absolute values in nearshore samples) could be explained by effects of sediment winnowing and focusing, whereas between-lake
variability reflected their relative susceptibility to wind-driven sediment disturbance or bottom anoxia. In all study lakes,
but most significantly in lakes Naivasha and Oloidien, species distribution in the subfossil chironomid assemblages showed
a strong nearshore to offshore gradient, which in these shallow lakes, reflects the dominant control of substrate and food
quality on species distribution in the living community. Particularly in the larger basins, nearshore samples better represented
the total lake assemblage than offshore samples, because the former always contained a component of mud-dwelling species whereas
the latter often lacked a component of macrophyte-dwelling species. Our results show that although sedimentation dynamics
in the shallow, wind-stressed Lake Naivasha is dominated by frequent resuspension and random sediment redistribution, the
near- to offshore gradient in chironomid habitat remains imprinted on subfossil assemblages. We conclude that also in shallow
fluctuating lakes, given sufficient size, incomplete pre-burial spatial integration of habitat-specific chironomid assemblages
can be exploited for within-lake calibration of environmental gradients. |
| |
| Keywords: | Africa Chironomidae Fossil remains Lake Naivasha Paleoclimate reconstruction Spatial variability Taphonomy |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
