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Central Amazonian floodplain forests: Tree adaptations in a pulsing system

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Abstract

Amazonian floodplain forests are characterized by an annual flood pulse with changes of the water table that exceed 10 meters. Seedlings and adult trees are waterlogged or submerged for continuous periods lasting up to seven months per year. The monomodal flood pulse of the rivers causes drastic changes in the bioavailability of nutrients, oxygen levels, and concentrations of phytotoxins. The aquatic phase occurs during a period in which temperature and light conditions are optimal for plant growth and development, implying the need for adaptations. Not only do trees persist in a dormant state, they grow vigorously during most of the year, including the aquatic period. The regularity of flooding may have enhanced the evolution of specific traits, which partially are well known from floodplain trees in other tropical and in temperate regions. Different kinds of adaptations are found at the level of structural, physiological, and phenological traits. Combinations of adaptations regarding seed germination, seedling development, and traits of roots, shoots, and leaves result in a variety of growth strategies among trees. These lead to specific species distributions and zonations along the flooding gradient and within Amazonian floodplain systems (nutrient-rich white-water várzea and nutrient-poor black-water igapó).

Resumo

As florestas alagáveis da Amazônia estão sujeitas à urna inundação anual que pode ultrapassar 10 metros. Plântulas e árvores adultas ficam parcialmente ou completamente submersas por períodos de até sete meses por ano. O pulso monomodal de inundação dos rios gera alteraccões drásticas na biodisponibilidade de nutrientes, na concentração de oxigênio e de phytotoxinas. A fase aquática ocorre em um período do ano em que as condições de luz e temperatura são ideais para o crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas, implicando em urna necessidade das plantas a se adaptarem. As espécies arbóreas não apenas sobrevivem em um estado de dormência, mas crescem vigorosamente durante quase todo o ano, inclusive na fase aquática. Inundações previsíveis e regulares podem ter aumentado a evolução de características específicas, que parcialmente já são conhecidas em outras espécies de áreas alagáveis em regiões trapicais e temperadas. Diferentes tipos de adaptações são encontradas a nível estrutural, fisiológico e fenológico. A combinação de adaptações levando em consideração a germinação das sementes, o desenvolvimento das plântulas, e a estrutura das raízes, caules e folhas resulta em urna variedade de estratégias de crescimento entre as espécies. Isto leva a distribuições específicas das espécies, zonações ao longo do gradiente de inundação e dentro dos sistemas amazônicos (a várzea, com águas ricas em nutrientes, e o igapó, com águas pobres em nutrientes).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Ecology Working Group Max Planck Institute for Limnology, 24302, Ploen, Germany

    P. Parolin, O. De Simone, K. Haase & W. J. Junk

  2. Center for Biology Botanical Institute and Botanical Garden, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, 24098, Kiel, Germany

    D. Waldhoff

  3. Biogeochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55020, Mainz, Germany

    S. Rottenberger, U. Kuhn & J. Kesselmeier

  4. Atmospheric Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55020, Mainz, Germany

    B. Kleiss

  5. Department of Biology, Carl von Ossietzky-University Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany

    W. Schmidt

  6. INPA/Max Planck, Manaus, 69011, Amazonas, Brazil

    M. T. F. Pledade

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Parolin, P., De Simone, O., Haase, K. et al. Central Amazonian floodplain forests: Tree adaptations in a pulsing system. Bot. Rev 70, 357–380 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0357:CAFFTA]2.0.CO;2

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