Abstract
Communities of aquatic macrophytes are influenced by a series of biotic and abiotic factors that determine which species or life forms will colonize an aquatic environment. Different stretches may harbor a distinct macrophyte diversity within the same drainage basin in response to different local environmental conditions. Thus, we hypothesized a pattern of longitudinal zonation in macrophytes communities in the aquatic environments of the Brazilian semiarid. The study was carried out in the Apodi/Mossoró Hydrographic Basin, in the semiarid region of Rio Grande do Norte State in northeastern Brazil. Four sampling campaigns were carried out in quarterly intervals along 23 sampling sites distributed from the headwaters to the estuarine region. In each sampling station, the presence of macrophytes was recorded and water variables were measured; in addition, water samples were also collected for analyses and plant material was collected for identification. The macrophytes community as a whole did not show a well-established gradient, although some life forms could be related to specific patterns. Some species, such as Ceratophyllum submersum L., were restricted to environmental conditions of low nutrient levels and high water transparency, while others, such as Ipomoea fistulosa Choisy, were widely distributed. The zonation pattern of aquatic macrophytes was determined by different characteristics of the environment, which ranged from nutrient-rich waters to stretches with high salinity, evidencing the adaptations of each ecological group.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Nice Shindo and Rita J Gray for the translation and English review of the manuscript. The authors are thankful also to the researchers Vali Joana Pott, Norma Catarina Bueno, and Vítor Fernandes Oliveira de Miranda for assisting in the identification of the aquatic macrophytes species and CNPq for the scholarship.
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RSTM and GGHS contributed to all steps of this manuscript, from field activities, laboratory analysis, data analysis and discussion of results to writing and editing the manuscript.
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Moura, R.S.T., Henry-Silva, G.G. Is there a zonation pattern in aquatic macrophytes communities in the aquatic environments of the Brazilian semiarid?. Braz. J. Bot 41, 665–674 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-018-0488-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-018-0488-2