Floristic, edaphic and structural characteristics of flooded and unflooded forests in the lower Rio Purus region of central Amazonia, Brazil

Haugaasen, T and Peres, CA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765 (2006) Floristic, edaphic and structural characteristics of flooded and unflooded forests in the lower Rio Purus region of central Amazonia, Brazil. Acta Amazonica, 36 (1). pp. 25-36. ISSN 1809-4392

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Abstract

Despite a natural history interest in the early 1900s, relatively little ecological research has been carried out in the Rio Purús basin of central Amazonia, Brazil. Here we describe a new study area in the region of Lago Uauaçú with an emphasis on the climate, forest structure and composition, and soil characteristics between adjacent unflooded (terra firme) and seasonally inundated forests; situated within both the white-water (várzea) and black-water (igapó) drainage systems that dominate the landscape. The climate was found to be typical of that of the central Amazon. Várzea forest soils had high concentrations of nutrients, while terra firme and igapó soils were comparatively nutrient-poor. Terra firme forests were the most floristically diverse forest type, whereas várzea was intermediate, and igapó the most species-poor. The Lecythidaceae was the most important family in terra firme while the Euphorbiaceae was the most important in both várzea and igapó. There were significant differences between forest types in terms of number of saplings, canopy cover and understorey density. In contrasting our results with other published information, we conclude that the Lago Uauaçú region consists of a typical central Amazonian forest macro-mosaic, but is a unique area with high conservation value due to the intimate juxtaposition of terra firme, várzea and igapó forests.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License
Uncontrolled Keywords:	amazonia,floodplain forest,floristic composition,forest structure,soil nutrients,sdg 6 - clean water and sanitation ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/clean_water_and_sanitation
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018)
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2011 14:35
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2023 14:35
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/19678
DOI:	10.1590/S0044-59672006000100005

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