Evaluación ambiental de las riberas del lago Nahuel Huapi y propuesta de un índice de calidad de costas

Abstract

Environmental assessment of Nahuel Huapi Lake shoreline and coastal quality index proposal. Lakes provide different ecosystem services, including those related to urban settlements, tourism and recreation. These activities can alter the lake shores in different ways. The Nahuel Huapi lake, located in the North of Argentine Patagonia, is a glacial and deep lake with urban and touristic development on its shores. The objective of this study was to construct a shore quality index based on landscape and urban features. For this purpose, we conducted a survey on Nahuel Huapi shores, measuring limnological parameters. We sampled 29 sites that were selected based on satellite images. In each site, we measured temperature, oxygen concentration and conductivity, and samples for the determination of nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon) and periphytic producer biomass (chlorophyll concentration on rock surface) were taken. In addition, in each site, we recorded characteristics of the area (e.g., the presence of docks, buildings and roads), as well as the riparian vegetation species and the presence of plastics and glass in the sediments. We developed a shore quality index that considered five components: 1) shoreline construction, 2) construction on coastal land, 3) recreation, 4) land use, and 5) shore vegetation. The proposed index fitted well with the limnological parameters (not included in the index); therefore, we consider that the shore quality index has a wide application to Patagonian glacial lakes. Based on this index, the Nahuel Huapi lake has mostly pristine shorelines, only 2% is very altered and 17% is altered.