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Abiotic factors drive the structure of aquatic plant assemblages in riverine habitats of the Brazilian “Pantanal”

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Abstract

The “Pantanal” wetland is one of the largest centers of diversity of aquatic macrophytes of Brazil. The objective of this work was to present a checklist of aquatic macrophytes, and to investigate structure and patterns of occurrence regarding physico-chemical parameters, at Amolar, in the Paraguay River sub-region, in the mid-western “Pantanal” wetland, Corumbá (MS). No previous aquatic plant study has been carried out there so far. The study was conducted in June 2009 in 391 plots (0.5 × 0.5 m). We recorded 65 species of aquatic macrophytes, from 49 genera and 27 families. The richest families were Fabaceae, Poaceae, Convolvulaceae, Onagraceae, and Lentibulariaceae. The most representative life forms were emergent and free floating, comprising the most frequent species: Hymenachne amplexicaulis (Rudge) Nees, Salvinia auriculata Aubl., Ricciocarpos natans (L.) Corda, Lemna aequinoctialis Welw. and Azolla filiculoides Lam. presented the highest relative cover, as well as the highest importance value, followed by S. auriculata. The structure of the community of aquatic macrophytes presents relation with physico-chemical variables, chiefly depth: many species occurred exclusively in shallow areas and others in deep zones. The life forms partially explain the species zonation of macrophytes in relation to depth.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Graduate Programs of Plant Biology and of Ecology and Conservation for financial support, to ECOA for logistic support, to the Brazilian agencies for scholarships to C. Aoki (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq), R. M. Gamarra (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES), and to CAPES and CNPq for grants to A. Pott and E. Scremin-Dias.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campus Aquidauana, Rua Oscar Trindade de Barros s/n, Serraria, Aquidauana, MS, CEP 79200-000, Brazil

    Camila Aoki

  2. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79070-900, Brazil

    Mara Cristina Teixeira-Gamarra

  3. Programa de Pós Graduação em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79070-900, Brazil

    Camila Aoki & Roberto Macedo Gamarra

  4. Programa de Pós Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, 79070-900, Brazil

    Silvana Cristina Hammerer de Medeiros, Vali Joana Pott, Geraldo Alves Damasceno-Junior, Arnildo Pott & Edna Scremin-Dias

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  1. Camila Aoki
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  2. Mara Cristina Teixeira-Gamarra
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Correspondence to Camila Aoki.

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Aoki, C., Teixeira-Gamarra, M.C., Gamarra, R.M. et al. Abiotic factors drive the structure of aquatic plant assemblages in riverine habitats of the Brazilian “Pantanal”. Braz. J. Bot 40, 405–415 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-016-0345-0

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