Littoral chironomid communities in an arctic Alaskan lake

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Author: Hershey, Anne Evelyn
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1985
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1985.tb01150.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0587.1985.tb01150.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1985.tb01150.x

The soft‐sediment littoral zone of arctic Toolik Lake (68°N) is composed of patches of macrophytes and bare sediments, which support distinct communities of chironomid larvae. Macrophytes were typically dominated by Stictochironomus rosenschoeldi (Zett.) but also had persistent populations of Heterotrissocladius maeaeri Brund., Paratanytarsus spp., Ablabesmyia sp., as well as several other less common taxa. Bare sediments were dominated by H. maeaeri, Parakiefferiella sp., and Zalutschia zalutschicola Lip. S. rosenschoeldi was common in bare sediments hut far less so than in macrophytes. Few taxa were restricted to either habitat. Life cycle lengths, estimated for some species, ranged from 1 to 4 yr. Analysis of indicator species suggested that Toolik is oligotrophic to ultra‐oligotrophic, which is consistent with the available primary production estimate for Toolik Lake. Littoral chironomid communities, in addition to profundal communities, may be useful in lake typology.