Part
1. Geology and Limnology
Chapter 1:
Geology and Geomorphology of the Baía-Curutuba-Ivinheima
River Complex
Edvard Elias de Souza Filho and José Cândido Stevaux
Chapter
2:
The Quaternary History of the Paraná River and its floodplain
José Cândido
Stevaux, Edvard Elias de Souza Filho, SvetlanaMedeanic and Galina Yamskikh
Chapter
3:
Effects of the Porto Primavera Dam on physical environment of the downstream
floodplain
Edvard Elias de Souza Filho, Paulo César Rocha, Eder Comunello
and José Cândido Stevaux
Chapter
4:
Limnological Characterization of the Aquatic Environments and the influence
of hydrometric Levels
Sidinei Magela Thomaz, Thomaz Aurélio Pagioro,
Luis Maurício Bini, Maria do Carmo Roberto and Renata Ribeiro de Araújo
Rocha
Part
2. Ecology,Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter 5:
Phytoplanktonic Assemblages
Sueli Train and Luzia Cleide Rodrigues
Chapter
6:
Periphytic algae
Liliana Rodrigues and Denise de Campos Bicudo
Chapter
7:
Composition, species richness and abundance of the zooplankton community
Fábio
Amodêo Lansac-Tôha, Cláudia Costa Bonecker and Luiz Felipe
Machado Velho
Chapter
8:
Benthic Invertebrates
Alice Michiyo Takeda and Daniele Sayuri Fujita
Chapter 9:
Composition, abundance and habitats of benthic chironomid larvae
Janet
Higuti
Chapter
10:
Fish assemblages
Angelo Antonio Agostinho, Luis Maurício Bini, Luiz
Carlos Gomes, Horácio Ferreira Júlio Jr, Carla Simone Pavanelli
andCarlos Sergio Agostinho
Chapter
11:
Trophic ecology of the fish assemblages
Norma Segatti Hahn, Rosemara Fugi and
Izabel de Fátima Andrian
Chapter
12:
Reproductive ecology of the fish assemblages
Harumi Irene Suzuki, Anna Emília
Amato de Moraes Vazzoler (in memoriam), Elineide Eugênio Marques, Maria
de los Angeles Perez Lizama and Paulo Inada
Chapter
13:
Temporal and spatial dynamics of fish eggs and larvae
Keshiyu Nakatani, Andréa
Bialetzki, Gilmar Baumgartner, Paulo Vanderlei Sanches and Maristela Cavicchioli
Makrakis
Chapter 14:
Helminth fauna of fishes: diversity and ecological
aspects
Gilberto Cezar Pavanelli, Marion Haruko Machado, RicardoMassato Takemoto,
Gislaine Marcolino Guidelli and Maria de los Angeles Perez Lizama
Chapter
15:
Aquatic macrophytes: diversity, biomass and decomposition
Sidinei Magela Thomaz,
Luis Maurício Bini, Thomaz AurélioPagioro, Kevin Joseph Murphy,
Anderson Medeiros dos Santos and Débora Cristina de Souza
Chapter
16:
Riparian
vegetation: ecotones and plant communities
Maria Conceição
de Souza, Mariza Barion Romagnolo and Kazue Kawakita Kita
Chapter
17:
Spatial characterization of the vegetation
João Batista Campos
Chapter
18:
The Upper Paraná river and its floodplain: main characteristics and
perspectives for management and conservation
Angelo Antonio Agostinho, Luiz
Carlos Gomes, Sidinei MagelaThomaz and Norma Segatti Hahn
PPREFACE
The development
of ecology is deeply linked with floodplains. The classical essayby Forbes, “The
lake as a microcosm”, was developed in his studies carried out over120
years ago on the Illinois River (USA). Forbes can be considered one of the
firstscientists to apply ecological paradigms to the study of river-floodplain
systems,focusing on the effect of the “periodic overflow and gradual
recession” of water inthe Illinois River floodplain on aquatic plants
and animals (Croker 2001). Over acentury ago, he was also one of the first
ecologists to assess human impacts uponsuch ecosystems.
During the last 200
years, almost all temperate floodplains have been destroyeddue to increasing
demands for agricultural land, human settlements and flood control. In South
America, some floodplains have been completely transformedthrough changing
land use or reservoir construction. On the other hand, some largeriver floodplain
systems are still in a relatively natural state (e.g., in the Amazon,Orinoco
and Paraguay basins). In addition, although they are exposed to varyingdegrees
of human impacts, hundreds of small to medium-size floodplain rivers on this
continent are still flooded seasonally.
The Paraná River is the tenth
largest river in the world, draining 15.7% of South America. In Brazil, the
Paraná drains an area with the highest population density and economic
activity in the country. Agriculture, industry and waste-water produced
in large cities are sources of impacts on the Upper Paraná and its
tributaries (Agostinho et al., 1995). Nevertheless, the greatest impacts
can be attributed to reservoir constructions, with 26 reservoirs of areas
greater than 100 km2 found in the basin (Agostinhoet al., 2000). In 1999,
after the construction of Porto Primavera Dam, the Paraná River floodplain
was reduced to a short stretch (about 200 km), extending between the new
dam and Itaipu Reservoir. Thus, one of the most important rivers in the world
enters the 21st century with only one surviving undammed stretch, the rest
having been flooded by reservoirs.
Incomplete surveys carried out in this
floodplain have recorded almost 3,000 species of animals and plants. Despite
this high species richness, data obtained since 1986 show that the Paraná River
and its floodplain have undergone rapid transformation due to human activities.
The principal impacts on the river and its floodplain are associated with
water level control (the key driving force for the functioning of river-floodplain
systems) caused by the operation of upstream reservoirs.
The situation described
above highlights the importance of the Upper Paraná River floodplain
for biodiversity conservation, education and scientific activities. Unfortunately,
the above considerations also indicate that urgent action must be taken to
conserve it. An initial very important conservation measure was the implementation
of three conservation units in this area: the National Park of Ilha Grande,
the State Park of Ivinheima and the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of
the Islands and “Várzeas” of Paraná River. The
whole area is also included in the Atlantic Forest Domain Heritage Site (MAB/UNESCO).
In this book, we discuss data obtained at different spatial and temporal
scales for physical and chemical factors and biological communities of the
upper Paraná River floodplain. Long-term studies are underway in this
ecosystem and it is certain that the results will reveal other impacts which
have not been perceived previously. We hope that future studies will help
to find appropriate tools to be used in the management of this unique ecosystem
and its fantastic biodiversity, allowing the preservation of surviving habitats
and the recovery of those that are already damaged.