Estudio preliminar de la fauna en el morro de basuras de Moravia y presencia de metales pesados en artrópodos y roedores

• Main Authors: Rolando Barahona, Alejandra Bedoya, María Solange Sánchez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana 2010-04-01
• Series: Universitas Scientiarum
• Subjects: Arthropods; biological inventories; cadmium; Mus musculus; lead
• Online Access: http://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/scientarium/article/view/1378/841

Preliminary study of the fauna in the Morro de Moravia open dump and presence of heavy metals in arthropods and rodents.Characterization of the species present in a given locality by means of biological inventories provides information about diversity, even ifit is done in disturbed environments such as open dumps, which are considered a threat for health due to the accumulation of heavy metalsthat are well known for their negative effects on human health and the environment. Objectives. To carry out a preliminary characterizationof arthropods and non-flying small mammals in the Morro de Moravia open dump, and to determine the heavy metal contents in animaltissue samples. Materials and Methods. Arthropods were collected with pitfall traps and manually. Rodents were captured with Shermantraps. The heavy metal analysis was carried out with atomic spectroscopy. Results. A total of 9 orders, 51 families and 75 morphospeciesof insects, 5 families of spiders, two syrphid and a millipede species were identified; Mus musculus was the only small mammal speciesidentified. Heavy metal analysis showed various concentrations mainly of Pb and Cd. The highest content of Pb (45.05 mg/kg) was foundin samples of M. musculus and the highest Cd content (10.31 mg/kg) was found in spiders of the family Gasteracantha. Conclusions. TheMorro de Moravia open dump provides conditions that allow the establishment of an arthropod community with various diets and niches.The transference of heavy metals from the residue matrix towards higher levels of the trophic chain was corroborated.