Colonização de Oligochaeta e outros macroinvertebrados durante a decomposição de Eichhornia azurea (SW.) Kunth (Pontederiaceae) e Salvinia auriculata Aubl. em um sistema lêntico na região tropical

Abstract

The present study was composed of two experiments. The first with the objective to verify the colonization of Oligochaeta during decomposition of the macrophyte Eichhornia azurea (Sw.) Kunth, while the second experiment analized the faunistic struture of the macroinvertebrates along decomposition of E. azurea and Salvinia auriculata Aubl. Experiment 1 was divided into two periods (1st period: September to November 2007; 2nd period: February to April 2008). In each period, 21 nylon bags containing 10 g of dry leaves of E. azurea, were placed in the lake, and removed at intervals of 2, 5,8, 12, 25, 45, and 65 days. In experiment 2 (November 2007 to February 2008), 60 nylon bags were used, 30 of them filled with 10 g of dry leaves of E. azurea and the others, containing the same amount of dry leaves of S. auriculata. After intervals of 30 minutes, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 days the bags were taken out of the lake. In both experiments, after out of the lake, the bags were taken to the laboratory, and the remanescent material was fixed in a formol solution 4%, washed and sorted. The organisms were identified and preserved in 70% alcohol. In experiment 1, the highest decomposition coefficient (K) was observed in the first period (K= 0.023 d-1) in relation to the second (K= 0.018 d-1 ), however with no significant difference. An increase of density and richness of Oligochaeta along the study was observed in both periods. Naididae was the most dominant family, represented by the genera Allonais, Chaetogaster, Dero and Pristina. These organisms, for their ability of moving themselves in the water column, near the substrate, showed to be better colonizers than Enchytraeidae and Tubificidae. In experiment 2, at the end of the 72 days, it was observed a small fraction of total biomass of E. azurea (2.65 g DM) in relation to S. auriculata (5.10 g DM), whereas in the first macrophyte it was registered a decrease of the carbon: nitrogen relationship during the study, while in S. auriculata it was not observed the decrease of this rate. Chironomidae and Naididae were the families with the higher densities, representing more than 95% of the fauna in both macrophytes. The collectors were the most abundant functional group in E. azurea and S. auriculata, attesting to the predominance of these organisms in the leaves in decomposition in the tropical region.