No abstract

In spite of its size and biological significance, we know little about the ecology of the Pantanal, a 140,000 km 2 floodplain in west-central Brazil. Increasing human pressures make this lack of understanding particularly critical. Using transects and 1 m 2 circular plots, we documented floristic composition and interactingenvironmental conditions associated with littoral herbaceous vegetation along inundation gradients at two ecologically-distinct sites in the Pantanal. We recorded water depth and percent cover for each species in Baía Piuval, a bay in the Bento Gomes River (Mato Grosso), and in a bay in the Acurizal Reserve (Mato Grosso do Sul). Baía Piuval and Acurizal plots contained a total of 22 and 18 macrophyte species, respectively. At both sites Eichhornia azurea and Salvinia auriculata occurred most frequently as dominant or co-dominant species. Chi 2 analysis, used to quantify zonations along depth gradients, generated four different groups of species ( p < 0.05) for Baía Piuval. For Acurizal, two significantly different groups ( p < 0.05) occurred with an intermediate assemblage of species that could be assigned to either group. Canonical correspondence analysis, used to analyze species distributions, showed a pattern consistent with the Chi 2 results for Baía Piuval but not for Acurizal. Higher species richness and diversity occurred where dry season and low water levels coincided and richness was generally highest in proximal plots where water depths were lowest. Our results are consistent with the few other plant ecological studies reported for the Pantanal. This study can be considered additive to needed baseline data on biota and ecology of this region of South America.

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Native American forests and tribal forest management practices have sustained Indigenous communities, economies, and resources for millennia. Tribal forest management is multifaceted and every tribe has unique values, history, and management goals. Tribal forests are managed for timber production, species diversity, and spiritual and cultural values. Tribal management often seeks to maintain species diversity, to respect culturally important landscapes, to reintroduce fire into fire-dependent ecosystems, and to protect water resources. Tribal forest management can provide important approaches to build landscape-scale partnerships and management. This panel presentation captured a broad range of tribal forest management practices and partnerships. Panelists discussed strategies for building partnerships with tribes, the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in tribal forest management, the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and their management strategies, and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe's approach to forest management. Panelists highlighted some of their partnerships and successful collaborative approaches to management. The panelists stressed the importance that tribal forests and forestry play within the landscape. Tribal partnerships can be enhanced when agencies listen to tribal perspectives, show mutual respect for tribal perspectives, use common language everyone can understand, and participate tribal community activities.