The Pantanal

1
The Pantanal
By Stephanie Gary, Autumn Carey, Jenni Scotti,
Katy Marlor, and Morgann Dalby
2
WHERE IS IT?
3
Shares its borders with Brazil, Bolivia, and
Paraguay
Half the size of France, 4 times the size of the
Everglades
Pantanal derived from Portuguese Word pantano,
meaning swamp
4
Snapshots of Diversity
5
Physical features Geological Evolution History
of Formation
Pantanal
6
Geography And Climate
7
Flood Plain Wetland Paraguay River
Basin Semi-Arid Zone
Types of Habitat
8
(No Transcript)
9
Climate Seasons Rainy Season Region
dominated by West winds Sun is at its
highest point Cold Air masses moving northward
across South America October-March Water
levels rising Dry Season Sun at its lowest
point above the earth Rising dry air dominates
the region Drying pools left behind as flood
waters retreat, then dry up completely Dissolv
ed O2 levels in the water April-October
10
Plant Diversity in the Pantanal
Soil content during flood seasons and dry seasons
account for the diversity of plants found in the
Pantanal Rainy season Calcium, Magnesium,
Potassium Dry season Nitrogen, Phosphates
11
Plants of the Dry Season

• Algae and bacteria are most common during the dry
  season
• Most common species found are diatoms,
  phytoflagellates, and desmids

12
Plants of the Wet Season
Salvinia auriculata is one of the most important
plants found in the Pantanal It is originally
from the more nutrient rich waters in the
American tropics but is flourishing in the
Pantanal
13
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
14

• One of the more common trees of the Pantanal is
  Tabebuia ipe.
• These trees can grow up to 120 feet tall and have
  trunk diameters of up to 3 feet.

15

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

Victoria regia is a species of water lily. Each
pad can grow up to 2 meters in diameter. Usually
found in stagnant waters and in rivers
16

• Carniverous plants also exists within the
  Pantanal
• 2 species are
• Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap)
• Utricularia

17
Venus Fly Trap
VENUS FLY TRAP
This plant has 2 brightly colored pads joined in
the middle Each pad has 3 tiny hairs that trigger
the pads closing

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

18
Utricularia

• There are many species of utricularia that
  exists.
• Examples U. gibba and U. foliosa
• Traps its prey in a sac attached to the leaves.

19
PLANT ADAPTATIONS

• Aerenchyma
• Buttress/prop roots
• pneumatophores

20
Amazonian Manatee

• 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

21

• 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

22

• 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

Threats
23
Pink Dolphin or Boto

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

• 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

24

• 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 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

25
CONSERVATION
26
(No Transcript)
27
The yellow is degraded
forest and agriculture. In the
bottom figure, the mauve is the
flooded forests.
28
The correlation between soil water and logging
and the potential for fires in the forest.
29
1987
1981
1989
Carbon source
Carbon Sink
30
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.
31
Number of dead and alive Vochysia divergens on
different study plots
Phenotypical aspects of Vochysia divergens and
different water levels and precipitation over a
year
Survival of Vochysia divergens after 5 month
flooding
32
(No Transcript)
33
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

34

• Gold mining
• Less is more
• Mercury
• Find other methods for mining gold
• Invasive species
• Habitat
• Dont 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

35

• 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