Caracterización Espacial y Temporal del Plancton en la Ensenada Guayaquil y la Bahía Chile durante el Verano Austral en la Isla Greenwich, Antártida.

The studies carried out in extreme environments are of vital importance to know the variability of plankton in low temperature conditions, during the Southern summer, during the XVIII Ecuadorian Antarctic Expedition, between January and February 2014, the study area was located in the Guayaquil Cove and Chile Bay (Greenwich Island), plankton samples were collected at surface and vertical level using simple cylindro-conical-conical nets of 335µ and 50µ respectively, in order to determine the distribution of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Ten sampling stations were carried out in Guayaquil Inlet and 8 stations in Chile Bay in both strata. Nineteen phytoplankton species were identified at surface level and Thalassiosira sp. 60.3%, Cyclotella sp. 12.4% and Corethron criophylum with 12.7% were observed as dominant and 9 species in the water column, being dominant Thalassiosira sp. 52%, Cyclotella sp. 25% and C. criophylum with 11%, observing a 68.12% of dissimilarity between both zones, registering as dissimilar species Thalassiosira sp, Cyclotella sp., Limnophora abreviata, Synedra ocus and Diploneis coffeif.ormis. In Chile Bay, 19 species were recorded at surface level, with two dominant species, Cyclotella sp. 36% and C. criophylum with 28%, while 10 species were recorded in the water column, with Cyclotella sp. 45% and C. criophylum 25%. Zooplankton was represented in Guayaquil Cove by 11 groups, with copepods and amphipods as dominant, in the vertical there were 7 groups represented mostly by copepods, in Chile Bay in both strata an average of 6 groups were recorded and copepods were the dominant ones. Within the Ecological indexes in the phytoplankton recorded a Shannon value of 1.3 bits/cel at the surface level and 1.2 bits/cel in the vertical, Simpson of 0.4 bits/cel in both strata and Pielou recorded an average of 0.75 bits/cel, in Guayaquil Inlet, in Chile Bay at surface level a H value of 1.5 bits/cel and 1.2 bits/cel in the vertical was observed, Simpson with an average of 0.35 bits/cel in both strata and Pielou with 0.70 bits/cel at surface level and 0.9 bits/cel in the vertical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]