Carmen Pérez-Martínez

University of Granada | UGR · Department of Ecology and Institute of Water Research

A novel methodology was used to evaluate the contribution of Saharan dust to the atmospheric deposition of particulate material (PM), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Dry and wet aerosol depositions were measured weekly during two one-year periods at one site and simultaneously during spring-sum...

Recent anthropogenic climate change and the exponential increase over the past few decades of Saharan dust deposition, containing ecologically important inputs of phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca), are potentially affecting remote aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we examine changes in cladoceran assemblage composition and chlorophyll-a concentratio...

Sedimentary postabdominal claws, among other remains, have been used successfully in paleolimnological studies to reconstruct past environmental conditions and the distribution pattern of certain Daphnia species. However, morphological analysis of postabdominal claws has not proven adequate for the clear taxonomic differentiation among species with...

Abstract Subfossil cladoceran assemblages were studied in surface sediments from 17 shallow alpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada (Spain) to evaluate relationships between species assemblages and environmental variables. Factors associated with the presence of Daphnia were also investigated. Chydorids predominated in the cladoceran assemblages. Redun...

Anthropogenic climate change and the recent increase of Saharan dust deposition has had substantial effects on Mediterranean alpine regions. We examined changes in diatom assemblage composition over the past ~180 years from high-resolution, dated sediment cores retrieved from six remote lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Southern Spain. In all...

Identifying and quantifying global change impacts on biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems is critical to promote an effective adaptation that increases the success of conservation strategies. To achieve this goal, global and regional assessment efforts require certain degree of harmonization on local monitoring programs to establish relevant...

Calcium (Ca) is an important driver of community structure in freshwaters. We examined the combined effects of increased temperatures and variations in food quantity on the tolerance to low Ca of Daphnia pulex. The aim was to predict the impact of climate warming on this keystone zooplanktonic species in cold-climate lakes. We conducted a factorial...

AnthropogenicClimateclimate changeClimate change and the recent increase ofSaharan dustSaharan dust depositionSaharan dust depositionare potentially affectingSierra NevadaSierra NevadaAlpine lakesalpine lakesLakes. In this chapter, we summarize the results of paleolimnological research conducted to track recent environmental and ecological changes...

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and tot...

Daphnia is a good model organism for studying factors affecting dispersal and patterns of genetic diversity. Within this genus, the Daphnia pulex species complex includes lineages from North America and Europe, with some considered invaders in various continents, although their colonization history is poorly known. We used mitochondrial DNA and mic...

Diversity at the local scale is determined by different, and often interacting factors. One factor that is suggested to be important in determining community structure is productivity, which is related to diversity. Though this relationship might depend on different factors, a hump-shaped, U-shaped or positive linear relationship seems to be freque...

Inactivation by adding different phosphorus (P) adsorbents is one of the most frequently used methods for combating inland water eutrophication. The aim of this work was to assess the toxic effects of novel P adsorbents (magnetic particles, MPs) on the phytoplankton community. An outdoor microcosm experiment, containing lake water and surface sedim...

Alpine ecosystems of the southern Iberian Peninsula are among the most vulnerable and the first to respond to modern climate change in southwestern Europe. While major environmental shifts have occurred over the last ∼1500 years in these alpine ecosystems, only changes in the recent centuries have led to abrupt environmental responses, but factors...

Alpine ecosystems of the southern Iberian Peninsula are among the most vulnerable and the first to respond to modern climate change in southwestern Europe. While major environmental shifts have occurred over the last ~ 1500 years in these alpine environments, only changes in the recent centuries have led to extreme responses, but factors imposing t...

Aquatic invertebrates can be geographically dispersed by abiotic vectors (wind, rain and water flow) or organisms (mainly by insects, fishes and waterbirds). However, there is a lack of information on the dispersal by waterbirds of cladocerans and especially rotifers, and on the hatching success of the dispersed propagules. Here, we quantify the di...

The effect of recent climatic warming is significant in the Mediterranean region, especially in high-mountain areas. This study uses multiple sedimentary proxies from Río Seco Lake, a remote alpine lake in the Sierra Nevada, southeastern Spain, to reconstruct recent environmental and ecological changes in the lake and catchment. Two main climatic p...

Hydraulic washout of lakes and reservoirs is recognized as a major regulating factor of both, phyto-and zooplankton populations. We have analysed the changes in the chlorophyll-a concentration in 21 high-mountain lakes from Sierra Nevada. Eleven lakes proved to have superficial diffuse inlets and outlets (open lakes) while the other 10 have no outl...

Biología de la conservación de plantas en Sierra Nevada: Principios y retos para su preservación

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent probl...

RESUMEN En el proyecto CLAM2 se han estudiado las comunidades biológicas actuales y subfósiles de los lagos de Enol y Marboré, así como las secuencias palinológicas y lluvia polínica de ambos sistemas para poder obtener indicadores fiables de cambio global en escalas temporales largas. Los resultados muestran que el lago Enol tiene unos valores de...

RESUMEN En este proyecto se analizan la comunidad actual de diatomeas y quironómidos así como la comu-nidad pasada de los últimos 4000 años mediante el registro sedimentario de La Mosca, una laguna somera situada en las altas cumbres de Sierra Nevada. Nuestro objetivo es la identificación de bioindicadores potencialmente útiles para los programas d...

Climate change is increasing the salinity of waters in the Mediterranean region. This effect may negatively affect the resilience of aquatic communities and modify regional dynamics, favouring the colonization of salt-tolerant species. Our objective was to test the effects of salinity on the resilient capacity and dispersal response of rotifers at...

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to thei...

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution ofcyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus onhepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g.,anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their p...

Oxygen depletion (temporal or permanent) in freshwater ecosystems is a widespread and globally important environmental problem. However, the factors behind increased hypolimnetic anoxia in lakes and reservoirs are often diverse and may involve processes at different spatial and temporal scales. Here, we evaluate the combined effects of different an...

The Sierra Nevada is the southernmost mountain range in Europe. The summit area has a high mountain Mediterranean climate which is defined by a severe summer drought, receiving a considerable input of Saharan dust (rich in Ca and P). In the Sierra Nevada there are over 50 glacial origin lakes between 2800 and 3100 m a.s.l. Objectives To assess the...

The Sierra Nevada is the southernmost mountain range in Europe. The summit area has a high mountain Mediterranean climate which is defined by a severe summer drought, receiving a considerable input of Saharan dust (rich in Ca and P). In the Sierra Nevada there are over 50 glacial origin lakes between 2800 and 3100 m a.s.l. Objectives To assess the...

Zooplankton dispersal may regulate population dynamics and the structure of aquatic communities. Zooplankton and other aquatic invertebrates, such as freshwater bryozoans, are potentially dispersed overland by abiotic vectors (e.g., wind, rain and water flow) or by organisms (e.g., waterfowl and insects), and although these dispersal vectors have b...

p>A common freshwater cryptophyte, Cryptomonas pyrenoidifera , was cultivated in batch-cultures to analyze intraspecific variation in elemental stoichiometry along a broad gradient of pulsed phosphorus (P) enrichment during the early acclimation period and to determine the immediate homeostatic capacity of the nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N:P) ratio of...

34. Romo, Susana and Carmen Perez-Martinez. 1997. “The Use of Immobilization in Alginate Beads for Long-Term Storage of Pseudoanabaena Galeata (Cyanobacteria) in the Laboratory.” Journal of Phycology: 1073–1076.

39. Pérez Martínez, C., Sánchez Castillo, P. & L. Cruz-Pizarro. 1994. “Effect of Nutrient Fertilization and of Zooplankton Predation on the Biomass and Production of Phytoplankton in a Mesotrophic Reservoir.” Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih. Ergebn. Limnol 40: 185–195.

39. Pérez Martínez, C., Sánchez Castillo, P. & L. Cruz-Pizarro. 1994. “Effect of Nutrient Fertilization and of Zooplankton Predation on the Biomass and Production of Phytoplankton in a Mesotrophic Reservoir.” Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih. Ergebn. Limnol 40: 185–195.

This work describes a project intended to improve an essential aspect of student learning, i.e. writing essay tests, directed to students of the Undergraduate Degree in Biology at the University of Granada (Spain). Previous results indicate that most students are well prepared and understand most of the concepts basic to Biology, as reflected in th...

A short core was collected in Río Seco Lake, an alpine and oligotrophic lake located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (in the southeast region of Spain) to determine the algal group changes over the past 200 years. In particular, it was analysed for fossil pigments and their derivatives and the geochemical (C/N ratio, grain-size analyses and isotopic...

The construction of ponds for irrigation has proliferated during last decades in Mediterranean regions. If properly constructed and managed, ponds may simultaneously meet conservation and agricultural objectives: the preservation of certain macrophytes might improve water quality for irrigation purposes. However, the effects ofmanagement are often...

1. Ponds have significant conservation value due to their potentially high contribution to local and regional diversity. However, most ponds are located in anthropogenically influenced areas, and their biodiversity is constantly threatened by human activities. Thus, knowledge of the effect of pond management on biodiversity is essential for designi...

Spirogyra africana (Fritsch) Czurda is a ubiquitous filamentous green alga that grows naturally in Andalusian farm ponds. Research on this macroalga has reported several biotechnological applications, emphasizing its value for biofuel production. However, culture media for growth of this species have not yet been tested for long-term experiments an...

We directly analyzed the in situ production of ephippia and ephippial eggs by an obligate parthenogen Daphnia pulicaria population in a high-mountain lake by using sediment traps during the ice-free period. We recorded the number of eggs per ephippium collected in the traps and studied the zooplankton and phytoplankton communities as well as the nu...

RESUMEN Los sedimentos de los lagos conservan la historia del sistema acuático, de su cuenca y de la región donde se sitúan. El estudio paleoecológico de los mismos es una herramienta eficaz para conocer la variabilidad natural de los sistemas ecológicos y su respuesta a cambios en el pasado. En este proyecto se analizan los sedimentos de la laguna...

We investigated the emergence of Daphnia pulicaria from resting eggs in Río Seco, an alpine lake in which the zooplankton growing period is short. In situ studies were carried out using sediment emergence traps and plankton sampling, and the sediment egg bank was analyzed. A laboratory experiment was performed to explore the role of photoperiod and...

We compared morphometric and physico-chemical characteristics of farm ponds and natural wetlands in Andalusia (southern Spain) to determine whether artifi-cial waterbodies might act as alternative and/or complemen-tary habitats for aquatic biodiversity. Farm ponds were much smaller than natural wetlands, making them unsuit-able for species requirin...

We experimentally analysed the importance of egg abortion in the reproduction strategies of Daphnia pulicaria (Forbes) in Lake Río Seco, a high mountain lake. Adult animals were exposed to different treatments under continuous or dynamic conditions (temperature and photoperiod) to test whether the simulation of field conditions, with changing tempe...

In order to evaluate latitudinal differences in the relationship of phytoplankton biomass and diversity with environmental conditions in shallow lakes, we sampled 98 shallow lakes from three European regions: Denmark (DK), Belgium/The Netherlands (BNL) and southern Spain (SP). Phytoplankton biomass increased with total phosphorus (TP) concentration...

Laboratory experiments were performed to study the growth rate and phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) uptakes of eight benthic microalgae species isolated from different sources of pig manure. Cells immobilized in calcium alginate beads were cultured with three replicates for each species. P removal rates obtained for the unicellular self-aggregating...

A total of 16 543 artificial ponds were inventoried. Ninety-one per cent of the ponds were classified as for farming use. Generally, the fraction of farm land converted to pond structures was close to that predicted from the average annual precipitation in the region. However, in several areas, this fraction was remarkably higher than the value pre...

ABSTRACTA new method for long-term storage of algal cultures in the laboratory was tested. The procedure is based on the cell immobilization technique. Cells of the filamentous cyanobacterium Pseudanabaena galeata Bocher were immobilized in sodium-alginate beads and stored for 14–18 months. The structure and functional features of the organism were...

For three consecutive years, a population study of Daphnia pulicaria was undertaken in Río Seco Lake, a small high-mountain lake, in order to elucidate the reproductive strategies adopted by Daphnia in this system. Daphnia appears to colonize this lake every spring by hatching from ephippia and reproduce by means of subitaneous (non-diapausing) and...

1. The effect of climate variability on phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics and nutrient availability was studied in two high mountain fishless lakes (La Caldera and Río Seco) of contrasting morphology, hydrology and dissolved inorganic nitrogen : soluble reactive phosphate (DIN : SRP) ratios during 1986 and after a 10-year-long drought in 1996...

The Iberian Peninsula is close to the Saharan Desert, which is the biggest source of atmospheric aerosols of the World. Currently, it is recognized that atmospheric deposition of aerosols over ecosystems is a significant source not only of elements with gaseous phases but also of rock-derived ones. In the last years we have been quantifying the atm...

This study aimed at unraveling the structure underlying the taxon-richness matrix of shallow lakes. We assessed taxon richness of a large variety of food-web com-ponents at different trophic levels (bacteria, ciliates, phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, macro-invertebrates, and water plants) in 98 shallow lakes from three European geographic regions...

Growth and sexual reproduction in a population of Cyclotella ocellata Pantocseck were studied during one annual cycle in a reservoir and in short-term enclosure experiments performed in situ involving different nutrient conditions and concentrations of zooplankton species. Three phases of auxosporulation in this diatom were distinguishable morpholo...

Laboratory experiments were performed to study the growth rate and phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) uptake of two nanoplanktonic algal species, Scenedesmus intermedius Chod. and Nannochloris sp. that were isolated from different sources of pig manure. Experiments were carried out for immobilized and free cell cultures simultaneously, with three repl...

1. A year-round study was conducted in a mesotrophic reservoir to determine the dynamics of zooplankton populations as a function of food availability (edible phytoplankton), nutrient concentration, temperature and hydraulic regime. 2. Rotifer biomass was correlated with soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentration. The abundance of the rotifers...

The 1-year seasonal distribution of Ceratium hirundinella was studied in a southern Spanishreservoir. This species grew from June 1988 to April 1989 and showed the highest density in winter, coinciding with the lowest water temperature values and with the period of water circulation. These seasonal dynamics do not accord with the typical descriptio...

The dispersal and colonization of Korshikoviella gracilipes (Lambert) Silva on Daphnia pulicaria Forbes collected from a small high mountain lake in southern Spain were investigated in a series of laboratory experiments. Results of these laboratory experiments were related to previous field data. Massive release and detachment of zoospores, which i...