Abstract
Root starch and glucose content were measured for young saplings of 18 Amazonian tidal várzea tree species during a dry season. The pattern of carbohydrate storage depended on the type of plant involved and soil topography which is directly linked to flood regime. Most plants showed high root carbohydrate content at this point in the dry season, however, several typically flood-tolerant species (particularly palm trees) presented a low root carbohydrate content, suggesting a strategy of acquiring reserves during the wet season to survive the dry season, when depletion occurs. Plant survival in these flood-prone forests seems to be the result of more than only one adaptive mechanism.
Highlights
Sem'ano et aI.Flooding is a recurring phenomenon in many areas ofthe Amazon forest varying in nature, duration and depth
Paim species in the low topography areas show only 20% of the root starch and 41 % of the root glucose presented in the higher areas
The root carbohydrate storage of the saplings studied varied according to soil water saturation, topography and type of plant involved
Summary
Flooding is a recurring phenomenon in many areas ofthe Amazon forest varying in nature, duration and depth. This has been described as one of the reasons that led to the present existence of a mosaic of habitats in the Amazonian floodplains (Junk , 1989). The habitat examined in the present work is what Prance called a tidal swamp forest, from the portuguese mata de várzea de estuário, which here will be called tidal várzea. These forests are often submitted twice daily to fresh water flooding backed up from tides. High tides temporarily block the flow of the rivers in the estuarine region and cause them to flood the adjacent forest
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