| Revue: | Pesquisas. Botanica |
| Base de datos: | PERIÓDICA |
| Número de sistema: | 000351660 |
| ISSN: | 0373-840X |
| Autores: | Parolin, Pia1 |
| Instituciones: | 1University of Hamburg, Biocentre Klein Flottbek, Hamburgo. Alemania |
| Año: | 2012 |
| Número: | 63 |
| Paginación: | 7-28 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| Tipo de documento: | Artículo |
| Enfoque: | Analítico, descriptivo |
| Resumen en inglés | One of the biggest flood pulsed environments worldwide occurs in the floodplain forests of the Amazon basin. Biodiversity in terms of species richness is high in these forests. More than 1000 flooding tolerant trees grow there, many of them are endemic. Also functional diversity in terms of life cycle strategies and ecophysiological responses to the periodical flooding is remarkable in this ecosystem. Tree species show a large variety of responses to the extreme changes of hydric conditions in the annual cycle. Difficult conditions for tree growth are caused by 3-7 months uninterrupted periods of waterlogging or even submergence with high amplitudes, rapid changes of water levels, anoxic conditions in the rhizosphere, and high sedimentation. High diversity may result from the fact that this extreme site has only a reduced number of abiotic factors representing stress for the trees, and the regular disturbances may even represent a driving force for resistance and adaptive evolution. The high complexity of the system and the short but regular occurrence of factors enhancing tree growth in the low-water period allowed the formation of highly diverse survival strategies. Most tree species have wide ranges of ecological tolerance. However, these ranges are still narrow enough to allow a spatial succession along the flood gradient supporting the theory of continuous adaptation to different habitats as driving force for diversification. In fact, functional diversity has clear consequences for plant distribution along gradients of flooding intensity, which are reflected in a clear vegetation zonation in Amazonian floodplain forests |
| Disciplinas: | Biología |
| Palabras clave: | Botánica, Ecología, Llanuras de inundación, Arboles, Adaptación fisiológica, Tolerancia a la inundación, Plántulas |
| Keyword: | Biology, Botany, Ecology, Floodplains, Trees, Physiological adaptation, Flood tolerance, Seedlings |
| Texte intégral: | Texto completo (Ver PDF) |
