Variación estacional del fitoplancton en la cuenca inferior del Río Salado (provincia de Buenos Aires)

The main aim of this survey was to analyze seasonal variations in phytoplankton composition, relating its behaviour to temperature and conductivity, at El Destino (ED) sampling site in the Salado river lower-basin. A total of 28 phytoplankton samples were taken twice a week from 9/3 to 20/7/2004 and were analysed according to Utermöhl method. In total, 145 algae taxa were identified, although rare species were discarded in order to avoid statistical misinterpretation. Correlation coefficients and autocorrelation analyses (Q-Ljung-Box statistic) were performed in order to establish seasonal patterns of species abundance. Significant autocorrelations (p 22ºC) like Planctonema lauterbornii, Chondrocystis dermochroa, Geminella interrupta, Chrooccocus spp., Merismopedia spp., among others; (2) a ‘winter’ group, which included 10 species whose highest densities were reached during the cold-waters period (