2024/07/12 by Daniel Nino Flores-Mendez, Carla E. Fernández, Melina Campero · 1 voice
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Chemistry #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Environmental science #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Materials science #Optoelectronics #Radiochemistry #Species Distribution and Climate Change #Ultraviolet #Ultraviolet radiation
paper · doi:10.1080/20442041.2024.2375883
openalex publication_date 2024/07/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Aquatic organisms from high mountain lakes experience extreme influences of climate and solar radiation, especially ultraviolet radiation (UVR), manifested through alterations in physiology, life history, and phenology. Zooplankton, a pivotal component of lake ecosystems, is particularly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions because of their short life cycles and diminished mobility. In the high mountains of the tropical Andes, zooplankton populations are adapted to low temperatures and high UVR because most of the Andean lakes are >4000 m a.s.l. This study focuses on Daphnia pulicaria populations originating from high-mountain Andean lakes, investigating their responses to different temperatures and UVR exposure by means of lab experiments. Key findings indicate that temperature is the most important factor impacting population variables, with high temperatures and UVR exposure leading to unfavorable population outcomes; however, physiological variables (cell viability and pigmentation, measured as melanin) are similarly influenced by temperature and UVR exposure. Pigmentation increases with temperature and is accentuated by solar radiation, indicating an adaptive response to mitigate UVR damage. Conversely, cellular viability declines with elevated temperatures and UVR exposure, showing that higher temperatures may offset the protective effects of pigmentation. Overall, these findings underscore the vulnerability of daphnid populations in high-mountain Andean systems to anticipated climate change impacts, with potential consequences for ecological dynamics in these critical ecosystems. More importantly, they show the importance of studying temperature and UVR (and probably other environmental conditions) as interacting variables because the results will dramatically differ if each factor is considered separately.