Datensatz

Zusammenfassung

As one of the largest wetlands in the world, the Pantanal, located in the NW-Brazil, is mainly influenced by the seasonal changes of dryness and flooding. During low water level, large amounts of nutrients become available and high phytoplankton concentrations are observed. Submersed aquatic macrophytes are strongly reduced. During the period of high water level the concentration of available nutrients in the water is very low and the nutrients are mostly incorporated by free floating and submersed macrophytes. The competition between submersed macrophytes and phytoplankton under different nutrient conditions was examined using enclosures with and without addition of nutrients in order to determine limiting factors. Aquatic macrophytes dominated under most experimental conditions except high ammonia concentration. However, starting conditions had a strong influence on the result of the experiments. In addition to nutrients, competition for light seems to be important for the dominance of algae or aquatic macrophyte communities. The results are expected to contribute to environmental assessment and sustainable management of the Pantanal.