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Sedimental Journey: Soil Fertility of Fluvial Islands Increases with Proximity to An Amazonian White-Water River

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Abstract

The nutrient content of soils is considered a key productivity factor. Sediment input from Amazonian rivers is one of the natural sources of soil fertility for fluvial islands and riverbank flooded forests. Despite the importance of soil factors for ecosystems, few edaphic studies along fluvial islands sediment-gradients have been undertaken in tropical areas. The current study provides a step forward by describing a mixed water (sediment-poor black water with the input of sediment-rich white water) fluvial archipelago with an emphasis on soil characteristics of seasonally inundated forests. To investigate how geographic distance from a white-water river mouth affects island soil properties, soil chemical and physical attributes, we sampled 61 sites on 35 islands at Jaú and Anavilhanas archipelago. The studied Central Amazon fluvial islands showed high variability in hydromorphic soils properties. In general, the fluvial island soils were acid and with low fertility. Islands from Jaú and other sites closer to the sediment source (Branco River) had higher soil fertility than the Anavilhanas Archipelago islands, which are further away from the sediment source. Our results show that sediment inputs from the Branco River can play an important role in soil properties in a relatively nutrient-poor area, and shed light on the role of biogeochemical processes in the largest freshwater archipelago in the world. Given that soil fertility is often correlated with forest productivity, the results reported here may serve as a baseline to support conservation politics with scientific data for Central Amazonian fluvial island environments.

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All data produced from this study are provided in this manuscript.

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Acknowledgements

We had the material support from the Thematic Laboratory of Soils and Plants (INPA) and the logistic support from ICMBio (permit numbers 55180-1 and 59367-1). Special thanks to Dr. Orlando Cruz and Jonas Souza Filho for instructions to performing soil analysis. We acknowledge the Amazonian Mammal Research Group. GDSFN thanks the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development [130817/2016-3], CAPES for graduate program support and The National Institute of Amazonian Research. FBB is continuously supported by a CNPq grant (313986/2020-7).

Funding

This study was funded by The Rufford Foundation (grant number 20754- 1 to GSFN) and Idea Wild.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo 2936, Manaus-AM, Petrópolis, CEP: 69067-375, Brazil

    Gilson de Souza Ferreira Neto, Fabricio Beggiato Baccaro, Carlos Alberto Nobre Quesada, Axa Simões Figueiredo, Regison Oliveira, Erison Gomes, Wilson Roberto Spironello & Adrian A. Barnett

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Manaus-AM, Brazil

    Fabricio Beggiato Baccaro & Adrian A. Barnett

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  1. Gilson de Souza Ferreira Neto
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  2. Fabricio Beggiato Baccaro
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  4. Axa Simões Figueiredo
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Contributions

GDSFN wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. GDSFN conducted field sampling. GDSFN, AB and FBB conceived the study. GDSFN, ASF, and EG performed laboratory analysis. GDSFN, CAQ, and WRS supported the study. RO helped with methodology. GDSFN and FBB performed data analysis.

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Correspondence to Gilson de Souza Ferreira Neto.

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de Souza Ferreira Neto, G., Baccaro, F.B., Quesada, C.A.N. et al. Sedimental Journey: Soil Fertility of Fluvial Islands Increases with Proximity to An Amazonian White-Water River. Wetlands 41, 104 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01506-6

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