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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A Low-Cost Method of Measuring the In Situ Primary Productivity of Periphyton Communities of Lentic Waters
Published on: December 16, 2022
[Macrophytes from some high Andean lakes of Ecuador and their low potential as bioindicators of eutrophication]
Benjamin Kiersch1, Ralf Mühleck, Günter Gunkel
1Universidad Técnica de Berlin, Departamento de Manejo de la Calidad de Agua, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, Sekr. KF 4, 10623 Berlin, Alemania. kiersch@gmx.de
Abstract:
The occurrence of macrophyte in three high Andean lakes of Ecuador, Lago San Pablo, Laguna La Mica and Lago Cuicocha was recorded in 5-9 transects per lake. The first two lakes are eutrophic, the third is an extremely oligotrophic caldera lake. The dominant species in eutrophic lakes are Ceratophyllum demersum, Myriophyllum quitense, Polamogeton illinoensis, P. striatus and Elodea matthewsii. In the oligotrophic lake P. pectinatus, P. illinoensis, and the Characeae Chara rusbyana, Ch. globularis and Nitella acuminata occur. The maximum depth of the macrophyte's presence can be used as an indicator of the trophic state, ranging from about 5 m in Mica to 35 m in Cuicocha. The bioindication value of the macrophyte species in these high Andean lakes is low, because few species occur and because some of them are not specific to environmental conditions.
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