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Response of Terrestrial-Aquatic Palm Ecotone (Morichal) to Anthropogenic Disturbance in the Orinoco Lowlands

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Abstract

The study tested the assumption that the effect of land-use changes on hydrological dynamics and edaphic features of an aquatic-terrestrial ecotone have led to vegetational patchiness and decrease primary productivity (NPP). On the basis of the depletion of a groundwater-fed stream, three study sites corresponding to interrupted, intermittent and permanent streams were selected throughout the ecotone in the Sunsunes catchment (Orinoco basin, Venezuela). To describe the human impact on land cover, patchiness, biodiversity, hydrological and edaphic features, NPP and nutrient availability, we use structural and functional approaches. Hydrological (i.e., duration of inundation and maximum inundation height), soil chemical (e.g., Ca concentration, available phosphorous, soil organic matter) and physical (i.e., water-filled pore spaces) features were the best predictors of anthropogenic disturbance. In the ecotone, the tree species invasion from well-drained savannas increased woody cover as described by a stretched exponential model. Groundwater drawdown in the interrupted and intermittent streams increased with 74 and 34 colonizer species from well-drained savannas. The NPP of the ecotonal vegetation along the interrupted stream (909 g C/m2/yr) was a higher sink as compared to the intermittent and permanent streams (580 g C/m2/yr). Anthropogenic stress along with natural disturbance resulted in a decline in the system´s functioning. In contrast to hydrology, the effect of the nutrient addition (i.e., liming and phosphorous) on the carbon accumulation by species was not significant. Therefore, the functional response of the system was more sensitive to hydrology regime. The results indicate impact on the ecotones occurred in short term, and that vulnerability to climate is crucial of groundwater-dependent vegetation.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been conducted within the Savanna Bioproductivity (MAB/UNESCO) project of IVIC. It was partially sponsored by the Decanato de Investigaciones Biológicas (Universidad Simón Bolívar). The identification of the botanical material was made or revised by Drs. Gerrit Davidse and Ronald Lisner from Missouri Botanical Garden. We thank the Associate Editor, Copy Editor (Dr. Petr Dostál) and reviewers for constructive comments and suggestions, which have led to considerable improvement in the contents and presentation. We appreciate the skillfull technical assistance of Professor Daniel Bailey (Universidad Simón Bolivar), as well as that of N. Nikonova, N. Matute and M. Moreno from the Ecological Center at IVIC.

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  1. Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Apartado 21827, Caracas, 1020-A, Venezuela

    José San-José, Carmen Buendía & Dirk Thielen

  2. Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Apartado 89000, Caracas, 1080-A, Venezuela

    Ruben Montes

  3. FEDEPALMA, Carrera 10A-44, AP 13772, Bogotá, Colombia

    Miguel Angel Mazorra

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San-José, J., Montes, R., Buendía, C. et al. Response of Terrestrial-Aquatic Palm Ecotone (Morichal) to Anthropogenic Disturbance in the Orinoco Lowlands. Folia Geobot 47, 153–178 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-011-9115-8

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