Open AccessPlant reproduction in the Central Amazonian floodplains: challenges and adaptations
Author(s) -
Cristiane Batisti Ferreira,
Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade,
Astrid de Oliveira Wittmann,
Augusto C. Franco
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
aob plants
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.998
H-Index - 39
ISSN - 2041-2851
DOI - 10.1093/aobpla/plq009
Subject(s) - floodplain , amazonian , herbaceous plant , ecology , biology , flood myth , reproduction , flooding (psychology) , amazon rainforest , plant community , plant reproduction , asexual reproduction , predictability , geography , ecological succession , pollination , psychology , pollen , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , psychotherapist
The Central Amazonian floodplain forests are subjected to extended periods of flooding and
to flooding amplitudes of 10 m or more. The predictability, the length of the flood pulse, the
abrupt transition in the environmental conditions along topographic gradients on the banks
of major rivers in Central Amazonia, and the powerful water and sediment dynamics impose a
strong selective pressure on plant reproduction systems. In this review, we examine how the hydrological cycle influences the strategies of sexual and
asexual reproduction in herbaceous and woody plants. These are of fundamental importance
for the completion of the life cycle. Possible constraints to seed germination, seedling establishment
and formation of seed banks are also covered. Likewise, we also discuss the importance
of river connectivity for species propagation and persistence in floodplains. The propagation and establishment strategies employed by the highly diversified assortment
of different plant life forms result in contrasting successional stages and a zonation of plant
assemblages along the flood-level gradient, whose species composition and successional
status are continuously changing not only temporally but also spatially along the river
channel