Abstract
The Shifting Habitat Mosaic refers to temporal changes in the spatial pattern of habitats, through the flood and dry pulses. This work mapped the dynamics of a Shifting Mosaic associated with the flood and dry pulses in the Environmental Protection Area of the Banhado Grande (EPABG). The research was divided into four stages: i) acquisition of satellite images; ii) obtaining rainfall river basin data from the Gravataí River; iii) identification of the flood and dry pulses; and iv) mapping of the Shifting Mosaic in the wetlands of the EPABG. In large swaths of flooding, a shifting connectivity is established between the AUs of EPABG, providing several interactions among these wetlands, such as nutrient exchange, sediments and living organisms. It was found that in periods where the accumulation of precipitation in the last 30 days is greater than 200 mm, we have the presence of predominantly aquatic mosaic with the presence of predominantly aquatic animals and vegetation; In periods where the cumulative precipitation in the 30 days is less than 200 mm, a terrestrial mosaic predominates, with increase of ciliary vegetation.
Highlights
Considered environments of high productivity and ecological value, flood plains are areas flooded by the lateral overflow of rivers or lakes, by the rainwater or groundwater (Schindler et al, 2014)
The Environmental Protection Area of Banhado Grande (EPABG) comprises three areas of marsh, the Banhado Grande, the Banhado Chico Lomã and the Banhado dos Pachecos, which form a large composition of wetlands in the basin of the Gravataí River, defined as Banhado Grande System (BGS) (Scherer, 2014)
In all the years of occurrence of El Niño considered strong by the CPTEC/INPE, the average fluctuation of water levels was higher than 2.00 m
Summary
Considered environments of high productivity and ecological value, flood plains are areas flooded by the lateral overflow of rivers or lakes, by the rainwater or groundwater (Schindler et al, 2014). The flood plains can be called the Aquatic/Terrestrial Transition Zone - ATTZ. This alternation between aquatic and terrestrial increases the decomposition of organic matter and the nutrient cycling, in addition to reducing the periods of stagnation in comparison with the conditions in permanently flooded habitats (Tracy-Smith et al, 2012). For floodplains to be ecotones (intermediate areas of tension between two communities) the physicochemical environment should have a flotation system (climate, hydro-sedimentological) that is difficult to predict. Populations of narrow niches should predominate (estenotípicos) as ecotone components
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