Spatial distribution of Crinum americanum L. in tropical blind estuary: Hydrologic, edaphic and biotic drivers

Autor: Maria Inês Salgueiro Lima, Jose Pedro Nepomuceno Ribeiro, Reginaldo S. Matsumoto, Alberto Carvalho Peret, Leandro Kenji Takao
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Environmental and Experimental Botany. 71(2):287-291
ISSN: 0098-8472
DOI: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2010.12.011
Popis: The competitive abilities of a given species are inversely proportional to its tolerance to environmental stress. Thus, in estuaries, vegetation is generally controlled by salinity and flooding in their lower limits, and by biotic drivers in their upper limits. Crinum americanum L. is vastly distributed over flooded regions of American seacoast, frequently associated with stressful habitats. We aimed to explain the role of hydrologic, edaphic, and biotic drivers in the distribution of this species on the Massaguacu River estuary, Southeastern Brazil (23°37′20″S and 54°21′25″W). We sampled randomly 400 plots in the estuary, and registered covering of all species, the height of the C. americanum individuals, and the relative height of the plots. We collected soil samples from every five plots. We measured the estuary level daily for two years. We used Correspondence Analysis, Simple and Canonical, and graphic analysis. The salinity has explained the major part of the observed pattern, and the C. americanum population was positively related to it. The estuary level was also important. C. americanum has presented higher densities in intermediary flooding classes than in the extremes of the gradient. Species reduction in regions of low salinity or its absence has probably been due to the highly competitive environment, and not to the lack of salt per se.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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