ECOLOGY OF WHITE-WATER AMAZONIAN FLOODPLAIN FORESTS (VÁRZEAS) Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA Projeto INPA/Max-Planck LNCC, Petrópolis, July, 2006
ECOLOGY OF WHITE-WATER AMAZONIAN FLOODPLAIN FORESTS (VÁRZEAS)
Maria Teresa Fernandez PiedadeInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA
Projeto INPA/Max-Planck
LNCC, Petrópolis, July, 2006
BRAZIL - 8.511.965 km2 ; Amazon Region - 4.978.000 km2 (58,5% )
Tropical Rain Forest – 80% of the Amazon region
Tabatinga
Tefé Manaus
Floodplains of the large rivers - 6% of the Amazon Region
PRECIPITATION
Occidental and Oriental Borders - Higher annual values – above 2400 mm
About 50% of the precipitation - evapo-transpiration of the forest
Santarém
Belém
Landsat
Amazon BasinFigure composition: Piedade, 2006
Várzea - 200.000 km2
Mangrove and estuarine areas
Small streams – terra firme 20%
Of the Amazon Basin
Igapó - 100.000 km2
www.arquipelagotours.com.brwww.floodedforest.com
Rio Negro
Rio Solimões
Manaus
Figure composition: Rodrigues & Piedade, 2006Junk, 1993; Piedade et al., 2001; Prance, 1980
Soils of várzea X igapó
Furch, 1997
1,50,2
1,8 1,20,4
0,90,05
0,5 0,2 0,1
5,92,2
71,5
23,6 32,8
7,6
0,43,5
1,2 2,6
Phytomass
Phytomass
Várzea
Igapó
N P K Ca Mg
Mg ha-1
Soil
SoilFigure composition: Rodrigues, 2006
VÁRZEA - high nutrient status
90% of the rural population in the Amazon State lives in the várzea
Figure composition: Piedade, 2006
Importance of the forest in the food chainsSeeds of three arboreal floodplain species
may produce above 30,000 t of fish/year
Tree Kg/ tree
Trees per ha
Kg of Seeds per ha
Seeds in the floodplains (t)
Fisherie production (t)
P. munguba
1.40
5
6,976,744
78,370
3,918
H. spruceana
2.81
9.5
2,671,875
300,132
15,007
A. jauari
3.60
5.7
2,052
230,502
11,525
Total 609,004 30,450
Seed production exceeds 1 M t/year
(Table adapted from: Lima &Goulding, 2004; Figure composition: Piedade, 2006)
Sazonality of the floodpulseterrestrial terrestrialaquat. aquatic aquaticPhase
Am
plitu
de o
fthe
inun
datio
n(m
) 10
5
0
03/1999 09/1999
Processes ofinundation andsedimentation
Junk et al., 1989; Junk, 1997; Parolin et al., 2004 Pezenshki et al., 2000 – photos J. Schoengart; figure composition: Rodrigues, lopes & Piedade, 2006)
C
140
25C
23B
230
A21
270
Wat
erle
vel(
m)
(Abo
vese
ale
vel)
Days of inundation per year
A – Shrub CommunityB – Medium arboreal community C – High arboreal community
Different biotic conditions: high habitats diversity
Junk, 1983; Junk, 1997 Figure composition: Rodrigues & Piedade, 2006
Adaptations to the flood(oxygen depletion;
alcohol intoxication)
Aerenchyma in the roots
Adventitious roots Lenticels
Figure composition: Rodrigues, 2006Junk, 1993; Junk, 1997; Parolin et al., 2004
Tabebuia barbata (E. Mey.) SandwithBignoniaceae
Foto
:Joc
hen
Schö
ngar
tSuberin - hypoderm of the root
Growth rings
Figure composition: Rodrigues, 2006Junk, 1993; Junk, 1997; Parolin et al., 2004
high vhigh váárzearzea climax stage (Virola, Spondias)
climax stage 80-400 yrs(Piranhea, Pouteria)
low vlow váárzearzea late second. stage 30-80 yrs(Vitex, Pseudobombax)
early second. stage 15-30 yrs(Cecropia, Maclura)
primary stage 0-15 yrs(Salix, Alchornea)
chavascal(Bactris, Symmeria)
incr
e asi
ng s
u ces
sio n
7
6
5
4
3
2
inun
datio
n (m
)Várzea forests
Wittmann et al. (2002);
Figure composition: Wittmann, 2004.
Changes in biotic conditions from the early sucessionalstage (1) to the high várzea (3)
- Radiation
- Sedimentation and granulometry
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%
1 2 3
site
gran
ulom
etry
(%)
00,20,40,60,811,21,4
sedi
men
tatio
n (c
m)
> 0.2 0.2-0.002 < 0.002 mm sedimentação
0
10
20
30
40
1 2 3site
rPAR
(%)
Wittmann, 2002
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
S. mart
iana
C. latilo
ba
P. mun
guba
V. cym
osa
C. benth
amii
G. ulm
ifolia
02468
1012141618
S. mart
iana
C. latilo
ba
P. mun
guba
V. cym
osa
C. benth
amii
G. ulm
ifolia
Reserves in seeds of tress
colonizing different
SucessionalStages in várzeaforests (Koshikene,
2004)
Total Soluble carbohydrates
R.Arruda (2005)
Figure composition: Piedade, 2006
Starch
Succession in várzea forestsSucession in the várzea starts with well adapted and productive aquatic
macrophytes
Trees show different strategies to cope with the flooding - zonation of species along the gradient with defined forest types, differing in species composition, diversity, stand density and forest architecture
The different várzea forest types can be classified as different successional stages.
Flood-level
erosion sedimentation
restinga baixa
Climax stage Late secondary stage
restinga alta
chavascalYoung pioneer stage
restinga baixa
Forest vegetation in the várzea (Junk 1989, Ayres 1993, Worbes et al. 1992, Wittmann et al. 2002)
Forest type Length of inundation(days y-1)
Flood-level(m)
Cover in várzea (%)
Várzea alta < 140 < 3 m ~??Várzea baixa 140-230 3-6 m ~??Chavascal > 230 > 6 m (water-logged) ~??
(Wittmann, 2001)
high várzea 3.0 - 1.0 m
(54 - 20 d y-1)
103 species27 species
Number of tree species per sucessional stage
low várzea7.0 - 3.0 m
(240 - 54 d y-1)
94 species
chavascal6.0 - 8.0 m
(300 - 200 d y-1)
8 speciesWittmann (2001)
Productivities varying from 6 to 100 t/ha/year according to the species and time available for
production (± 3 times the várzea forest)
Piedade, 2006Piedade & Junk, 2000
Can we reconize sucessional stages using Remotesensing (“up scalling“)?
8
1
6
4
2
inun
datio
n (m
)
Wittmann et al. (2002); Figure composition: Wittmann, 2001)
Detection and area calculation of the different forest types by supervised classification (Landsat TM)
(Wittmann, 2002)
Wittmann et al. (2002); Figure composition: Wittmann, 2001
0 1 2 3 4 5Kilometres
1:150.000
Mamirauá Reserve: Jarauá
water
clouds
macrophytes
young pioneer & early secondarylate secondary& climax stagehigh várzea:climax stageGCP´s
R. Japurá
-02°57´65°07´W
-02°57´64°49´W
-02°44´65°07´W
-02°44´64°49´W
Remote sensing: classification
ConclusionsConclusions – on the vegetation
Growth in Amazon floodplains forests is triggered by the monomodal flood-pulse leading to reduction of cambial activity, and formation of annual
rings
Despite this reduction in growth, and the relatively low aboveground woodbiomass accumulation, várzea forests are characterized by higheraboveground wood biomass production than the terra firme forests
Tree species diversity of white-water floodplain forests increases along the following gradients:
1. With increasing stand age (succession)
2. With decreasing mean flood-level
3. With increasing latitude (Wittmann et al., 2006)
More than 1000 tree species occur in the várzea floodplain forests, 60 % from those are endemic
Growth in Amazon floodplains forests is triggered by the monomodal flood-pulse leading to reduction of cambial activity, and formation of annual
rings
Despite this reduction in growth, and the relatively low aboveground woodbiomass accumulation, várzea forests are characterized by higheraboveground wood biomass production than the terra firme forests
Tree species diversity of white-water floodplain forests increases along the following gradients:
1. With increasing stand age (succession)
2. With decreasing mean flood-level
3. With increasing latitude (Wittmann et al., 2006)
More than 1000 tree species occur in the várzea floodplain forests, 60 % from those are endemic
Petroleum in the várzea
Fração Solúvel
Fração Sólida e Insolúvel
Fração volátil
Figure composition: Lopes, 2006
Animals
Aquatic birds
Colossoma macropomum
Plants ???Impacts of Petroleum
Spartina alterniflora
Utricularia foliosa mangrove
IN THE AMAZON???
Peterson et al., 2003; Val & Almeida-Val, 1999; Almeida-Val et al., 1993; Pezeshki et al., 2000.
Team
Wolfgang Junk – Max-Planck Institute for Limnology (MPIL), Ploen, GermanyFlorian Wittmann – MPIL-Ploen, Projeto INPA-Max-PlanckJochen Schoengart - MPIL-Ploen, Projeto INPA-Max-PlanckMaria Teresa Fernandez Piedade – Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia – INPA, MPIL-Ploen, Projeto INPA-Max-Planck
And all the PhD, MSc and junior students related to the Projeto INPA-Max-Planck, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Cooperation: Mamirauá Institute; GEOMA
THANK YOU/OBRIGADA