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Abstract:
Central Amazonian whitewater floodplains are periodically inundated by sediment rich rivers and have very fertile soils compared to areas flooded by nutrient-poor blackwater rivers or non-flooded terra firme. The richness of the soils allows very high primary production. This becomes apparent in the herbaceous vegetation which covers enormous low-lying areas, and in the dense coverage with forest of the higher lying areas which have lower flooding periods. New sedimentation zones are rapidly colonized by fast-growing pioneer tree species, and a successional sequence leads to highly diverse forests.
