Recovery and stability of Paraná river floodplain grasslands twenty years after a catastrophic flood

The floodplain herbaceous vegetation of the Paraná River (Argentina) was destroyed by a catastrophic extraordinary flood in 1982-83. The main communities were Panicum prionitis tall grasslands. According to a succession model, they were seral communities that would have evolved to hygrophilous fore...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Community ecology 2005, Vol.6 (2), p.209-217
Main Authors: Franceschi, E.A, P.S. Torres, J.P. Lewis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Floodplains
Floods
forests
Grasslands
Panicum
Plant communities
Prionitis
Riparian grasslands
rivers
Sediments
Species
Synecology
Vegetation
Woodland grasslands
woody plants
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Summary:The floodplain herbaceous vegetation of the Paraná River (Argentina) was destroyed by a catastrophic extraordinary flood in 1982-83. The main communities were Panicum prionitis tall grasslands. According to a succession model, they were seral communities that would have evolved to hygrophilous forest. After the flood, the area was surveyed in 1984, 1988 and 2002 and analyzed with numerical methods. First, the area was invaded by a community of annual species, which were the sparse species of tall grasslands, but five years after the colonization this community disappeared and was replaced by the original tall grasslands and turfs. The tall grasslands rapid recovery and the absence of woody species support the hypothesis that this community is a stable community which was rejuvenated by catastrophic floods and was prevented to develop into woody species communities.
ISSN:1585-8553
1588-2756
DOI:10.1556/ComEc.6.2005.2.9