Trophic Status of Shallow Lakes of La Pampa (Argentina) and Its Relation with the Land Use in the Basin and Nutrient Internal Load

Abstract

Phosphorus and nitrogen are essential nutrients for living organisms. Their concentration in the water of an aquatic ecosystem is one of the factors responsible for the trophic status of the lake and is related to the soils of the region and to the human activities carried out in their basins. These nutrients are also found in the bottom sediments, where they can either be retained or re-enter the water column. Since the information about the concentrations of nutrients in the water of some lakes of La Pampa (Argentina) is fragmentary, the aim of this study is to describe the trophic status of some shallow lakes of the semiarid center of Argentina and analyze its relation with the human activities in their basins, the concentrations of nutrients and organic matter and particle size distribution of sediments. To this end, we studied ten shallow lakes subjected to different anthropogenic influence s (agriculture, agriculture and livestock and impacted by cities). All were hypertrophic and the concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen were among the highest reported globally. Since some lakes had no fish, cladoceran grazing (top-down effect) led them have reduced concentrations of phytoplankton chlorophyll- a and high water transparency. This relativizes the use of these parameters to determine the trophic status. The sediments of seven of the studied lakes were predominated by fine sands, whereas three were predominated by silts. Nutrient and organic matter content were high, with higher concentrations in lakes with prevalence of fine particles. The reduced adsorption capacity of sediments, the resuspension by wind, the anthropogenic input and the accumulation favored by the arheic character of the basins would explain the high concentrations of nutrients in the water of these Pampean environments.