The Pantanal

By: Stephanie Gary, Autumn Carey, Jenni Scotti, Katy Marlor, and Morgann Dalby

WHERE IS IT?

Shares its borders with Brazil,Bolivia, and Paraguay

Half the size of France, 4 times the size of the Everglades

Pantanal derived from PortugueseWord ‘pantano’, meaning swamp

Snapshots of DiversitySnapshots of Diversity

Pantanal

Physical featuresGeological Evolution

History of Formation

GeographyAnd Climate

Flood Plain Wetland Paraguay River Basin

Semi-Arid Zone

Types of Habitat

Wetland Habitats

Flooded Plains

Marshy Lowlands

SavannaWoodlands

Climate & Seasons

Rainy Season: Region dominatedby West winds; Sun is at its highestpoint; Cold Air masses moving northward across South America; October-MarchWater levels rising

Dry Season: Sun at its lowest point above the earth; Rising dry air dominates theregion; Drying pools left behind as flood waters retreat, then dry up completely;Dissolved O2 levels in the water; April-October

Soil content during flood seasons and dry seasons account for the diversity of plants found in the Pantanal

Rainy season: Calcium, Magnesium, PotassiumDry season: Nitrogen, Phosphates

Plant Diversity in the Pantanal

Plants of the Dry SeasonPlants of the Dry Season

• Algae and bacteria Algae and bacteria are most common are most common during the dry during the dry seasonseason

• Most common Most common species found are species found are diatoms, diatoms, phytoflagellates, phytoflagellates, and desmidsand desmids

Salvinia auriculata is one of the most important plants found in the PantanalIt is originally from the more nutrient rich waters in the American tropics but is flourishing in the Pantanal

Plants of the Wet

Season

Cabomba furcata has massive underwater beds and pink flowers.After the flower is pollinated, it dips below the surface of the water to allow the fruit to develop

• One of the more common One of the more common trees of the Pantanal is trees of the Pantanal is Tabebuia ipe.Tabebuia ipe.

• These trees can grow up to These trees can grow up to 120 feet tall and have 120 feet tall and have trunk diameters of up to 3 trunk diameters of up to 3 feet.feet.

• Victoria regia is a Victoria regia is a species of water species of water lily. lily.

• Each pad can grow Each pad can grow up to 2 meters in up to 2 meters in diameter.diameter.

• Usually found in Usually found in stagnant waters stagnant waters and in riversand in rivers

Victoria regia is a species of water lily. Victoria regia is a species of water lily. Each pad can grow up to 2 meters in Each pad can grow up to 2 meters in diameter.diameter.Usually found in stagnant waters and Usually found in stagnant waters and in riversin rivers

• Carniverous plants also exists within Carniverous plants also exists within the Pantanalthe Pantanal

• 2 species are:2 species are:– Dionaea muscipulaDionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap) (Venus fly trap)– UtriculariaUtricularia

Venus Fly TrapVenus Fly Trap

• This plant has 2 This plant has 2 brightly colored brightly colored pads joined in the pads joined in the middlemiddle

• Each pad has 3 tiny Each pad has 3 tiny hairs that trigger hairs that trigger the pads closingthe pads closing

This plant has 2 brightly colored pads joined in the middleEach pad has 3 tiny hairs that trigger the pads closing

VENUS FLY TRAP

UtriculariaUtricularia

• There are many There are many species of species of utricularia utricularia that that exists.exists.

• Examples: Examples: U. gibbaU. gibba and and U. foliosaU. foliosa

• Traps its prey in a Traps its prey in a sac attached to the sac attached to the leaves.leaves.

• AerenchymaAerenchyma

• Buttress/prop Buttress/prop rootsroots

• pneumatophorespneumatophores

PLANT ADAPTATIONS

Amazonian Amazonian ManateeManatee

•occurs exclusively in fresh water. It prefers blackwater lakes, oxbows, and lagoons with deep connections to large rivers and abundant aquatic vegetation

•ranges throughout the Amazon River Basin of northern South America. Its range sometimes has been said to include the Orinoco River Basin

•populations of the central Amazon Basin make an annual movement in July - August, when water levels begin to fall

•Some return to the main river channels when the rivers shrink in the dry season

•do most of their feeding during the wet season, when they eat new vegetation in seasonally flooded backwaters

•during the dry season (September - March), they congregate in the main river channels or in deep parts of larger lakes and may fast for weeks or months for lack of available food plants

•manatee's large fat reserves and low metabolic rate, only about 1/3 of the usual rate for most mammals, allow it to survive at this time

•Subsistence and commercial hunters have long hunted the Amazonian manatee

•Its populations continue to decline, mainly due to hunting

•Other threats include accidental drowning in commercial fishing nets and degradation of food supplies by soil erosion resulting from deforestation

Pink Dolphin or BotoPink Dolphin or Boto

•central Amazon basin, large changes in water levels affect the local distribution of botos

•significant increases in water level during the flood season leads to the inundation of large areas of forest

•Botos move out of the main river into channels and small lakes and then into the forest itself, swimming among the trees

•occurs throughout much of the Amazon and Orinoco watersheds, being found almost everywhere it can physically reach without venturing into marine waters

•The boto is vulnerable to human-induced habitat changes and suffers some incidental mortality in fisheries

•Threats include being accidentally caught in fisheries, hydroelectric development, deforestation, and pollution from agriculture, industry and mining

•There are 10 major dams at present in the Amazon basin, of which 8 have isolated boto populations upstream

•These dams have caused fragmentation of the pink dolphins

•Since the boto feeds on dozens of species of fish, they are isolated from fishing locations in part by the dams

•Dams suppress natural fluctuations in flow, temperature, and detritus loading, which provide optimal conditions for a large number of aquatic organisms

The correlation between soil

water and logging and the

potential for fires in the forest.

1987

1981

1989

Carbon source

Carbon Sink

The annual CO2 release of each ecosystem. In 1983 and 1986 the rainforest releases CO2 into the biosphere. In 1988 and 1992, the rainforest

becomes more what it is naturally, a CO2 sink.

Phenotypical aspects of Vochysia divergens and different water levels and precipitation over a

year

Number of dead and alive Vochysia divergens on different

study plots

Survival of Vochysia divergens after 5 month flooding

What needs to be done?

Deforestation• Agriculture

– Using smaller areas– Let the forest repair itself

• Logging– Low impact harvest techniques– Reduced impact logging– Long-term planning

• Gold mining• Less is more• Mercury

– Find other methods for mining gold

• Invasive species• Habitat

– Don’t create habitats invasive species can choke out the native one

» Example- abandoned graze lands

• If all goes well things can improve• Environment • Climate• People• world

Educate!!• The whole world needs to work together• Understanding of how important the forest is• Understanding of what we need to do• FUTURE

Learning about the consequences and how

The whole world is affected by this ecosystem