Vol. 62, 2023

(update: 2023.12.29)

Native Fauna of Tardigrades from Two Natural Areas of the Argentina Republic

Belen Rocío Ostertag^1,2,*, Andrea Ximena González-Reyes³, Alfonsina Grabosky^2,3, Florencia Meier^2,4, Irene Luisa Doma¹, José Corronca^2,3, and Alejandra Mariana Rocha¹

¹Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, National University of La Pampa (UNLPam), 151 Uruguay Avenue, CP 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina. *Correspondence: E-mail: belenostertag@gmail.com (Ostertag)
E-mail: irenedoma@hotmail.com (Doma); rochaale64@hotmail.com (Rocha)
²National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), Godoy Cruz Street 2290, CP C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina. E-mail: graboskina@gmail.com (Grabosky); m.meier.florencia@gmail.com (Meier); jcorronca@gmail.com (Corronca)
³Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute for the Study of Invertebrate Biodiversity (IEBI), National University of Salta (UNSA), 5150 Bolivia Avenue, CP 4400, Salta, Argentina. E-mail: axgonzalezr@yahoo.com.ar (González-Reyes)
⁴Institute of Biodiversity and Environment Research (INIBIOMA), National University of Comahue (UNComahue), 1250 Quintral Street, CP 8400, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

(Received 29 April 2023 / Accepted 20 November 27 2023 / Published 29 December 2023)
Communicated by Daniel Stec

Understanding and preserving biodiversity in natural habitats is crucial due to their rapid degradation and destruction. The meiofauna of natural areas is less well known than the macroscopic life. Tardigrades are common in limno-terrestrial meiofauna and can indicate environmental conditions. In this study, we expand our understanding of the taxonomy and ecology of tardigrade communities in two natural reserves in Argentina by examining the environmental factors that can affect them and the species that could be used as indicators. In 2018, sampling occurred in the Parque Luro Provincial Reserve (province of La Pampa) and the Poligono A Municipal Ecological Reserve (province of Salta). Samples were taken from epiphytic communities that grow on the bark of trees. Various environmental and microhabitat factors were taken into account. In the province of La Pampa, there were 1326 specimens of five species, and in the province of Salta, there were 212 specimens of nine species. The tardigrade communities in Salta exhibited statistically higher diversity than those in La Pampa. Temperature and moisture affected the tardigrade community of Parque Luro Provincial Reserve, while the microhabitat thickness affected those of Poligono A Municipal Ecological Reserve. The species turnover shaped the community of Salta, while nesting shaped the community of La Pampa.

Key words: Biodiversity, Ecology, South America, Geography, La Pampa, Salta

Citation: Rocío Ostertag B, González-Reyes AX, Grabosky A, Meier F, Doma IL, Corronca J, Rocha AM. 2023. Native fauna of tardigrades from two natural areas of the Argentina Republic. Zool Stud 62:57. doi:10.6620/ZS.2023.62-57.

Supplementary Materials: Table S1丨Table S2丨Appendix 1