Puna divers
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Puna diver ( Podiceps taczanowskii ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Podiceps taczanowskii | ||||||||||
| Berlepsch & Stolzmann , 1894 |
The Puna or Junin diver ( Podiceps taczanowskii ) is a flightless species of grebes native to Peru . It has an extremely small distribution area that exclusively includes Lake Junín , which is located in the Andes at an altitude of 4080 m. The Puna is an alternately humid altitude level of the Andes over 4000 m, which extends over large areas of Peru. This is why the name Junintaucher , which is occasionally used, is much more precise, although "Punataucher" is a more common term.
Appearance and way of life
The Puna diver looks very similar to the much more common Inca diver that is widespread in southern South America. It becomes 35 cm long; The throat, neck, cheeks and underside are white, the back and the top of the head are silvery gray.
The Junin Lake is 143 square kilometers of shallow water that is bordered by large belts of reeds. Not only can it be very cold in this region, but there is also largely no precipitation during the southern winter. On Lake Junin, the Puna diver lives most of the time far from the shores in the middle of the lake; but it breeds in the reed belts on the banks. The Puna diver feeds mainly on small schooling fish such as the Andean pygmy fish , but their stocks decline significantly when the reed belts dry out during the dry season. Puna divers often hunt for fish together. They swim forward in a line so that it is easier for them to build the fish. During their hunt, they often stay near submerged algae mats, which are particularly rich in fish. In addition to fish, they also eat insects and larvae.
Puna divers usually breed between November and March, but the prevailing weather conditions have an influence on the reproductive process and in adverse weather the brood may fail completely in some years. The nests are created in the outer area of the spacious reed belt. Breeding pairs each lay only one clutch, which usually consists of two eggs. In addition, not all pairs breed, as a rule only a third of the adult population broods.
Causes of danger and protective efforts
Since the 1950s, the ecosystem of this lake has been massively destabilized by humans. In 1955, for example, the Upamayo Dam was built, which ensures that the reed belts on the shore regularly dry out. From upstream mines sediments with toxic metal concentrations are washed into the lake; In the entire northern half of the lake, the bottom of the lake is covered with iron oxides and ecologically dead. While in 1961 there were still over 1000 Puna divers on the lake, in 1997 there were only a little more than a hundred. The IUCN lists the punata diver in the status "severely threatened".
The Peruvian government has designated Lake Junin as a national reserve with controlled hunting and fishing. In 2002 it also passed emergency laws to protect the lake and, above all, to restrict water abstraction. However, these legal regulations have so far largely had no effect. The lake is one of the globally significant protected areas of the Ramsar Convention; besides the Puna diver , it is also of particular importance for the Junin rail ( Laterallus tuerosi ), the Junin frog ( Batrachophrynus macrostomus ) and the catfish species Pygidium oroyae . Several environmental protection organizations such as BirdLife International and the American Bird Conservancy are therefore repeatedly campaigning for the Peruvian government to improve the protection of this lake.
Etymology and history of research
The Puna diver was first described in 1894 by Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch and Jan Sztolcman under the scientific name Podiceps taczanowskii . The type specimen is a new name for Podiceps caliparaeus Taczanowski , 1886. In 1787 John Latham introduced the new genus Podiceps . This word is derived from the Latin "podex, podicis" for "cloaca, annus" and "pes, pedis" for "foot". The species name is dedicated to Władysław Taczanowski, who first described the type specimen under a name that has already been assigned.
literature
- Dominic Couzens : Rare Birds - Survivors, Evolution Losers and the Lost. Haupt Verlag, Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-258-07629-4 .
- Jon Fjeldså: The Grebes . Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-850064-5 .
- James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
- Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch, Jan Sztolcman: Description of a new Species of Gerbe from Central Peru . In: The Ibis (= 6 ). tape 6 , no. 9 , 1894, pp. 109-112 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
- John Latham: Supplement to the General synopsis of birds . Printed for Leigh & Sotheby, London 1787 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Web links
- Podiceps taczanowskii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.