Abstract
In some Bromeliaceae species the leaf sheaths form a tank or phytotelma, accumulating water and organic detritus, conditions that allow the establishment of different communities. Thus, this study evaluated the relationship between diameter and volume of water in the tank of the bromeliad Aechmea distichantha Lem. and density of flagellates found in the phytotelmata, as well as the influence of the hydrological periods and proximity of sampled strata on the phytotelma patterns of abundance distribution. Samplings were conducted in two hydrological periods in 2010. In each sampling, four plants were collected from three different strata, classified according to the distance from the river level. A one-way ANOVA identified significant differences in flagellate density between hydrological periods. The influence of the water volume in the phytotelmata on the flagellate density was evidenced by regression analyses, as well as the lack of relationship between the density and perimeter of the tank. Moreover, the distance of the strata from the river level did not influence the pattern of flagellate abundance. Thus, our results suggested that the hydrological period and the volume of water in the tanks of Aechmea distichantha are determinant on the abundance of heterotrophic flagellate in the phytotelmata.
Highlights
The family Bromeliaceae features a high richness and biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest (MARTINELLI et al, 2008), with approximately 3,000 species which underwent an extensive adaptive radiation (LUTHER, 2006)
The so-called tank bromeliads, the leaf sheaths form a tank or phytotelma, accumulating water and organic detritus (BENZING, 2000; LEME; MARIGO, 1994), being this storage promoted by the overlapping of the leaves
The composition of heterotrophic flagellates registered in bromeliad tanks was represented by species identified in other inland aquatic environments (KISS et al, 2009), and in the upper Paraná river floodplain, in samples of plankton and of organisms associated with aquatic macrophytes (CAMARGO; VELHO, 2010; PEREIRA et al, 2010)
Summary
The family Bromeliaceae features a high richness and biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest (MARTINELLI et al, 2008), with approximately 3,000 species which underwent an extensive adaptive radiation (LUTHER, 2006). This Neotropical-endemic family is characterized by terrestrial, epiphytic plants, small-sized with simple leaves arranged in a rosette (BENZING, 2000; LEME; MARIGO, 1994). The tanks capture, in addition to rainwater, leaves that are decomposed and consumed by organisms In this way, a phytotelma favors the colonization for many species, supplying nutrients and refuge for plankton organisms and insect larvae, which interact and form and complex food web (NGAI; SRIVASTAVA, 2006)
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