The
Pantanal
By: Stephanie Gary, Autumn Carey, Jenni Scotti,
Katy Marlor, and Morgann Dalby
WHERE IS IT?
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
Snapshots of Diversity
Physical features
Geological Evolution
History of Formation
Pantanal
Geography
And Climate
Flood Plain Wetland
Paraguay River Basin
Semi-Arid Zone
Types of Habitat
Wetland Habitats
Flooded
Plains
Marshy
Lowlands
Savanna
Woodlands
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;
Dissolved O2 levels in the water;
April-October
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
Plants of the Dry Season
• Algae and bacteria
•
are most common
during the dry season
Most common species
found are diatoms,
phytoflagellates, and
desmids
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
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
• 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.
• Victoria regia is a
species of water lily.
is a up
species of water lily.
•Victoria
Each padregia
can grow
Each
pad can
to 2 meters
in grow up to 2 meters in
diameter.
diameter.
foundinin stagnant waters and in
•Usually
Usually found
stagnant waters and
rivers
in rivers
• Carniverous plants also exists within the
Pantanal
• 2 species are:
– Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap)
– Utricularia
VENUS
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
FLY TRAP
This plant
has 2 brightly
colored pads
joined in the
middle
Each pad has
3 tiny hairs
that trigger
the pads
closing
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.
PLANT ADAPTATIONS
• Aerenchyma
• Buttress/prop roots
• pneumatophores
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
•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
•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
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
•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
The correlation
between soil water
and logging and
the potential for
fires in the forest.
1987
1981
1989
Carbon
source
Carbon
Sink
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 CO 2 sink.
Phenotypical aspects of Vochysia divergens and
different water levels and precipitation over a
year
Survival of Vochysia divergens after 5 month
flooding
Number of dead and alive
Vochysia divergens on different
study plots
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
• Gold mining
• Less is more
• Mercury
– Find other methods for mining gold
• Invasive species
• Habitat
– Don’t 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
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