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)

Ilha da Marchantaria – An example of sediment dynamics in the várzea

19861972

1999 2003

1. Landsat.

19861972

2003

Ilha da Marchantaria

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)

Aquatic Macrophytes

About 400 speciesPiedade, 2006

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

MORE RECENT PROBLEMS

TO THINK ABOUT....

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.

FUTURE!?!?!?!?!

Data? Yes/NoModels?????

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