The igapó of the Negro River in central Amazonia: Linking late-successional inundation forest with fluvial geomorphology

Despite important progress on Amazonian floodplain research, the flooded forest of the Negro River igapó has been little investigated. In particular, no study has previously focused the linkage between fluvial geomorphology and the floristic variation across the course of the river. In this paper we describe and interpret relations between igapó forest, fluvial geomorphology and the spatial evolution of the igapó forest through the Holocene. Therefore, we investigate the effect of geomorphological units of the floodplain and channel patterns on tree diversity, composition and structural parameters of the late-successional igapó forest. Our results show that sites sharing almost identical flooding regime, exhibit variable tree assemblages, species richness and structural parameters such as basal area, tree density and tree heights, indicating a trend in which the geomorphologic styles seem to partially control the organization of igapó's tree communities. This can be also explained by the high variability of well-developed geomorphologic units in short distances and concentrated in small areas. In this dynamic the inputs from the species pool of tributary rivers play a crucial role, but also the depositional and erosional processes associated with the evolution of the floodplain during the Holocene may control floristic and structural components of the igapó forests. These results suggest that a comprehensive approach integrating floristic and geomorphologic methods is needed to understand the distribution of the complex vegetation patterns in complex floodplains such as the igapó of the Negro River. This combination of approaches may introduce a better comprehension of the temporal and spatial evolutionary analysis and a logic rationale to understand the vegetation distribution and variability in function of major landforms, soil distributions and hydrology. Thus, by integrating the past into macroecological analyses will sharpen our understanding of the underlying forces for contemporary floristic patterns along the inundation forests of the Negro River. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Distribution and abundance of four caiman species (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae) in Jaú National Park, Amazonas, Brazil

Jaú National Park is a large rain forest reserve that contains small populations of four caiman species. We sampled crocodilian populations during 30 surveys over a period of four years in five study areas. We found the mean abundance of caiman species to be very low (1.0 ± 0.5 caiman/km of shoreline), independent of habitat type (river, stream or lake) and season. While abundance was almost equal, the species' composition varied in different waterbody and study areas. We analysed the structure similarity of this assemblage. Lake and river habitats were the most similar habitats, and inhabited by at least two species, mainly Caiman crocodilus and Melanosuchus niger. However, those species can also inhabit streams. Streams were the most dissimilar habitats studied and also had two other species: Paleosuchus trigonalus and P. palpebrosus. The structure of these assemblage does not suggest a pattern of species associated and separated by habitat. Trends in species relationships had a negative correlation with species of similar size, C. crocodilus and P. trigonatus, and an apparent complete exclusion of M. niger and P. trigonatus. Microhabitat analysis suggests a slender habitat partitioning: P. trigonatus was absent from river and lake lgapo (flooded forest), but frequent in stream Igapó. This species was the most terrestrial and found in microhabitats similar to C crocodilus (shallow waters, slow current). Melanosuchus niger inhabits deep, fast moving waters in different study areas Despite inhabiting the same waterbodies in many surveys, M. niger and C. crocodilus did not share the same microhabitats. Paleosuchus palpebrosus was observed only in running waters and never in stagnant lake habitats. Cluster analysis revealed three survey groups: two constitute a mosaic in floodplains. (a) a cluster with both M. niger and C crocodilus, and another (b) with only C. crocodilus. A third cluster (c) included more species, and the presence of Paleosuchus species. There was no significant difference among wariness of caimans between disturbed and undisturbed localities. However, there was a clear trend to increase wariness during the course of consecutive surveys at four localities, suggesting that we, more than local inhabitants, had disturbed caimans. The factors that are limiting caiman populations can be independent of human exploitation. Currently in Amazonia, increased the pressure of hunting, habitat loss and habitat alteration, and there is no evidence of widespread recovery of caiman populations. In large reserves as Jaú without many disturbance, most caiman populations can be low density, suggesting that in blackwater environments their recovery from exploitation should be very slow.

Anatomia de órgãos foliares de Mapania Aubl. (Mapanioideae, Cyperaceae)

Estudou-se a anatomia dos órgãos foliares (folhas basais, ou catafilos, no caso de folhas ausentes, e brácteas involucrais) de três espécies de Mapania Aubl. Os espécimes de Mapania macrophylla (Boeck) H.Pfeiff. e M. pycnostachya (Benth.) T.Koyama, pertencentes à seção Pycnocephala, e M. sylvatica Aubl., pertencente à seção Mapania, foram coletados durante expedições científicas na Reserva Florestal Ducke em Manaus, AM, e constituem representantes de um mesmo gênero que ocupam três ambientes distintos da Floresta Amazônica. Em todos os órgãos, as espécies apresentam epiderme uniestratificada, com células de paredes delgadas, e estômatos paracíticos na face abaxial, no mesmo nível ou um pouco acima das demais células epidérmicas. O mesofilo é homogêneo e apresenta dois padrões distintos nos órgãos foliares: o primeiro com feixes vasculares em um único nível, sem extensão de bainha, idioblastos fenólicos abundantes e aerênquima não conspícuo; e o segundo padrão com feixes vasculares maiores e menores intercalados, com extensão de bainha do feixe e interrompidos por aerênquima conspícuo com células translúcidas. O primeiro padrão foi encontrado em brácteas involucrais de M. sylvatica e o segundo em todos os órgãos foliares das demais espécies. Essa diferença corrobora com as seções estabelecidas e é importante na diferenciação de espécies dentro do gênero. No pseudopecíolo de M. pycnostachya foi observada a presença de hipoderme, caráter importante na diferenciação de Mapania e Hypolytrum e que, portanto, necessita ser melhor estudado no gênero. Ainda, a presença de aerênquima, células epidérmicas com parede delgada e posição dos estômatos refletem a adaptação dessas espécies a ambientes úmidos de várzea e igapó onde são encontradas