Evolución trófica de Laguna Grande de San Pedro (VIII Región, Chile) durante el último siglo, mediante el análisis de registros sedimentarios

Abstract

This research reconstructs the trophic evolution of Laguna Grande de San Pedro (VIII Region, Chile) during the last century, through both the stratigraphic analyses of diatom remains and geochemical parameters preserved in a sediment core obtained in this lake. The results obtained show that the community of diatoms has changed its composition throughout time, showing four different periods, representing each one a distinctive trophic condition. On the other hand, the geochemical records increase their accumulation rates to the profile surface layers, making evident an increase of the productivity to the present time. In this context, it is possible to conclude that the productivity at Laguna Grande has experienced significant changes, evolving from an oligo-mesotrophic system (earlier period) to an eutrophic one (recent period). The most drastic changes would have happened during the last decades, as response to both the intense development of urbanization and forest activities in the basin of this lake.