La Mica Lago in the Clouds

Explanation: Catch your breath. You are at 12,060 feet (3,676 m) elevation here!

You are in the high Andes Mountains of Ecuador. Before you spreads La Mica Lago (Mica Lake), high in the paramo grasslands.

This lake serves as a water reservoir for the huge city of Quito, the nation's capitol.

More than that, it is habitat for some very interesting birds, many found only up here in the ultra highlands ... including Andean coots, silvery grebes, yellow-billed pintails, Andean teals, stout-billed cinclodes, Andean ducks, Baird's sandpipers, and plumbeous sierra-finches. At least, that is what I observed upon my visit.

One study of the aquatic vegetation ("macrophytes") of this lake revealed that is eutrophic. The study tested if the macrophytes can be used to indicate the trophic state or ecosystem health of the lake system; here in La Mica Lago. Macrophytes in La Mica Lago root onto to about 16 feet (5 m) depth, suggesting a eutrophic state, whereas in other less productive lakes of the region the rooting depth goes to 115 feet (35 m). However, use of rooted aquatic plants as bioindicators of lake health and eutrophication has marginal utility, as few plant species occur in such lakes and some species are generalists to environmental factors.

Information:
Kiersch, B., R. Mühleck, and G. Gunkel. 2004. Macrophytes from some high Andean lakes of Ecuador and their low potential as bioindicators of eutrophication. (In Spanish) Revista de Biologia Tropical 52(4):829-837.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week