A competição interespecífica explica a distribuição espacial de macrófitas aquáticas em estuários?

• Ano de defesa: 2015
• Autor(a) principal: Nunes, Laís Samira Correia [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
• Palavras-chave em Português: Aquatic ecology; Ecologia aquatica; Plantas - Competição; Estuarios; Gradiente de concentração; Macrófitas aquáticas; Salinidade; Itanhaém, Rio, Bacia (SP)
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/123725; http://www.athena.biblioteca.unesp.br/exlibris/bd/cathedra/09-06-2015/000834425.pdf

Competitive interaction plays an important role in aquatic macrophytes zonation in estuaries. Estuarine regions are marked by stress gradients, especially in relation to salinity due to marine influence. In less stressful areas, the lower salinity ones, the halophytes can be excluded by freshwater plants, which have higher competitive ability. Thus, salt tolerant species have their occurrence limited to the most stressful areas, which are the high salinity areas. In the Itanhaém River Basin Estuary (SP) the emergent aquatic macrophytes Crinum americanum and Spartina alterniflora are distributed along the salinity gradient. The species occupy opposite ends of the gradient and form mixed banks in the intermediate zone. In this study we sought to understand the distribution of these species in the abovementioned region, assessing which abiotic and biotic factors influence their zonation. We tested the hypothesis that S. alterniflora is not established in the less stressful environment occupied by C. americanum due to the competition effect, and that, C. americanum would be intolerant to high salinity. Three study sites were selected according to the presence of the species in the salinity gradient: S. alterniflora monospecific bank in the lower zone (high salinity), C. americanum monospecific bank in the upper zone (low salinity) and mixed bank of the two species in the middle zone (intermediate salinity) of the estuary. For these sites it was determined the sediment salinity, nutrient availability and grain size, besides the riverside slope. In the laboratory, an experiment was realized to evaluate the species growth in monoculture and mixed culture in the same salinity levels of the study sites. Sediment salinity levels in the gradient correspond to 40, 120 and 260 ppm. The intermediate salinity zone has high nutrient availability. The lower salinity zone has more sandy sediment and larger riverside slope. The experimental data showed that...