Assessment of riparian landscape structure and stream network connectivity influen...
| Grant number: | 06/04723-3 |
| Support type: | Regular Research Grants |
| Duration: | May 01, 2007 - October 31, 2009 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Ecology |
| Principal Investigator: | Silvio Frosini de Barros Ferraz |
| Grantee: | Silvio Frosini de Barros Ferraz |
| Home Institution: | Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil |
Abstract
The riparian zones are sources of extremely important structural components for the lotic environment, among which stand out the large woody debris. They act altering the morphology of the channel, increasing your complexity through the creation of channel units that offer refuge for the fishes and other aquatic organisms. The landscape fragmentation affects the dinamics of the ecosystems, besides riparian environments, bringing consequences for the lotic environments. In this work, it is looked for to study the influence of the microbasins landscape in the supply of large woody debris for the lotic environment and in the structure of the channel. The study will be conducted in fifteen microbasins belonging to the Corumbataí Riverbasin, which present natural forests with diferent levels of fragmentation and conservation. The variables that will be obtained refer to the microbasin (percentage of forest in the microbasin and in the riparian zone, number, área and perimeter of the fragments, distance of the patches in relation to the channel, soil type, predominant rocky embassament of the microbasin and channel order), to the channel (medium width and depth of the channel, medium width of the flood plain, predominant substratum in the channel and general steepness of the reach), to the channel units (number of pools in the reach, proporcion of pools formed by the woody debries, spacing among the pools, medium widht and depth of the pools, area of the pools, type of pools formed by the woody debris) and to the woody debris (amount, length and diameter of the woody debris, dear biomass of the woody debris, location and orientation of the woody debris on the channel). Univariety and multivariety analyses will be accomplished seeking to identify the variables that present more influences in the entrance of woody debris in the channel and in your structure. The obtained results can be useful in recovery projects and conservation of these environments. (AU)