The Zooplanktonic Assemblage of a Tropical High Andean Reservoir. La Garcia Reservoir (Antioquia-Colombia)

This is the first study related to the zooplankton assemblage in the La García reservoir, an equatorial high Andean reservoir located in the central region of the department of Antioquia (Colombia). The main objective of the work was to know the composition and abundance of the zooplankton assemblage in the reservoir and to establish if there is any relationship between these and the physical and chemical variables measured. It was carried out during a monitoring program between the months of June and September 2014. Monthly samples were taken at three stations, from five depths throughout the water column, with a 10 L capacity sampling bottle. The collected material was filtered through a plankton net with a 30-mm of mesh size, identified and counted under an inverted microscope using a Sedgwick-Rafter counting cell. Depth and rainfall were the variables that exerted more influence on the zooplankton assemblages, reaching the highest density during the driest season, in the shallowest station and the least Secchi transparency.