Abstract In Brazil, although, high-altitude shallow lakes comprise large parts of conservation units and are considered highly important environments for biodiversity studies, little is known about the factors that regulate the zooplankton community. In the present study, we sought to identify the effect of regional (hydroperiod and altitude) and local (lake area and macrophyte cover) factors on the zooplankton communities in eight shallow high-altitude lakes (from 1080 m a.s.l. to lakes above 1200 m a.s.l.) in the Espinhaço Mountain Range (Brazil). Of the 116 zooplankton species identified, 66 (56%) showed a high degree of spatial aggregation, occurring in only a few lakes. Accessory species occurred predominantly in small lakes, while rare species were better represented in the larger lakes, suggesting species sorting associated with the niche effect. Zooplankton richness was strongly influenced by hydroperiod, indicating that temporary lakes can congregate species resistant to the environmental filter of the drought, playing an important role in the diversification of the zooplankton community. We identified environmental heterogeneity (macrophyte cover) as the factor that most influenced the species diversity: zooplankton responded positively to increased macrophyte cover, confirming that the presence of aquatic plants constitutes a strong environmental filter to explain the variation of the zooplankton community. Zooplankton species composition and abundance differed among lakes, indicating a certain degree of heterogeneity in assemblage structure, but no influence on zooplankton diversity was observed. Our results provide evidences that altitude did not influence zooplankton diversity and this may affect the regional diversity (ß diversity) of tropical high-altitude lakes, and merits further study.

中文翻译：

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区域和地方因素在塑造高海拔热带浅湖浮游动物多样性方面的相对重要性

摘要 在巴西，虽然高海拔浅湖构成了大部分保护单位，被认为是生物多样性研究的重要环境，但对调节浮游动物群落的因素知之甚少。在本研究中，我们试图确定区域（水文周期和海拔高度）和局部（湖泊面积和大型植物覆盖）因素对 8 个浅层高海拔湖泊（从 1080 米海拔到 1200 米海拔的湖泊）浮游动物群落的影响。 ）在埃斯皮尼亚索山脉（巴西）。在确定的 116 种浮游动物中，66 种（56%）表现出高度的空间聚集，仅发生在少数湖泊中。附属物种主要出现在小湖泊中，而稀有物种在较大的湖泊中表现得更好，表明与生态位效应相关的物种分类。浮游动物丰富度受水期影响很大，表明临时湖泊可以聚集抵抗干旱环境过滤的物种，在浮游动物群落的多样化中发挥重要作用。我们确定环境异质性（大型植物盖度）是对物种多样性影响最大的因素：浮游动物对大型植物盖度的增加做出积极反应，证实水生植物的存在构成了一个强大的环境过滤器来解释浮游动物群落的变化。湖泊之间浮游动物种类组成和丰度存在差异，表明组合结构存在一定程度的异质性，但未观察到对浮游动物多样性的影响。