Composition and taxonomic similarity of the periphytic algal community in different natural substrates in a neotropical floodplain, Brazil

Abstract

The present study investigated the species composition and taxonomic similarity of periphytic algae on three species of macrophytes (Eichhornia azurea Kunth, Nymphaea amazonum Martius & Zuccarini and Oxycaryum cubense (Poeppig & Kunth) Lye) and also some limnological variables in a lake permanently connected to the Paraná River at the Upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil, from June 2008 to March 2009. During the study period, the Paraná River showed irregular flood pulses and indistinct hydrological periods. In this same period, 406 taxa of periphytic algae were identified, distributed mainly in the classes Zygnemaphyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae; and Cyanobacteria. Similarity analysis based on taxonomic composition of sampling periods and substrates showed low values and primarily represented a temporal segregation of periphytic algal community, mainly in June 2008 from others. Secondly, the microespacial segregation occurred to a lesser extent, according to the type of substrate, especially between O. cubense and others. It comprises first steps for understating the comparative structure of periphytic algal community in these distinct substrates at the Paraná River floodplain.

Periphytic algal community in lentic environments of the Upper Paraná River floodplain: seasonal and spatial variation

“…High values of species richness were registered in May and February 2015, coinciding with high water level, and the lowest number of algal species was found in August 2014, which presented the lowest water levels of the Paraná River. Other studies performed in lentic and semi-lotic environments of the Upper Paraná River floodplain also registered higher species richness of periphytic algae during high-water periods (Rodrigues & Bicudo, 2004;Fonseca & Rodrigues, 2005;Algarte et al, 2009Algarte et al, , 2017Carapunarla et al, 2014;Biolo et al, 2015;Bichoff et al, 2016), in agreement with our results.…”

“…Our results demonstrate that species richness of periphytic algae changed over time in response to variation in the hydrological regime of the Paraná River, showing the influence of hydrological dynamics and environmental changes on periphytic algae of these floodplain lakes. Previous studies have also found this influence on attributes of periphytic algal communities other than richness, such as biomass and abundance, in lakes of this floodplain (Fonseca & Rodrigues, 2005;Algarte et al, 2009;Biolo et al, 2015).…”

“…They are home to a great variety of communities of aquatic algae, characterized by greater species richness than other types of habitats in this floodplain (Thomaz et al, 1997;Agostinho et al, 2000). These environments show favourable conditions for the development and establishment of diverse algal communities (Agostinho et al, 2000;Thomaz et al, 2004) because they have different degrees of connectivity to the Paraná River's main channel and especially because they support a great variety of aquatic macrophytes, which provide surfaces supporting biota such as periphyton (Rodrigues & Bicudo, 2001a;Thomaz et al, 2007;Algarte et al, 2009;Biolo et al, 2015).…”

Distribution of benthic centric diatom Pleurosira laevis (Compère, 1982) in different substrate type and physical and chemical variables

“…Furthermore, Murdock & Dodds (2007) state that roughness is equally important in regulating a substratum's physical effect in streams. According to discussions depicted by Jones et al (2000) and Biolo et al (2015), there is a remarkable controversy about factors that estimate the species abundance of the periphytic algal communities, especially with respect to the selective influence of type and shape of substrates. Findings from this study also indicated that the type of substrate and physical and chemical variables affect on the relative abundance of P. laevis.…”

Relationship among carnivorous macrophyte Utricularia foliosa L. and species composition and life forms of periphytic algae community

“…In habitat scale, macrophyte influence can be more important than environmental conditions (Tarkowska-Kukuryk & Mieczan, 2012;Grutters et al, 2017). Macrophyte life form and architecture seems to play a significant role in determining the periphyton structure (Jones et al, 2000;Biolo et al, 2015;Fernandes et al, 2016). filamentosas emaranhadas apresentaram maior biovolume no perifíton em substrato artificial e algas unicelulares flageladas tiveram maior biovolume em substrato natural.…”