Nictemeral fluctuations and effects on the plankton assemblage of river knick zones macrohabitats

• Grant number: 16/05140-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Gomes Nogueira
• Grantee: Rodolfo Zampieri Bezzon
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

River knick zones are macrohabitats of plateau rivers with rocky substrate that have small waterfalls, runs and pools. These environments provide shelter and reproduction sites for planktonic organisms, macroinvertebrates and fish. However, especially after the constructions of hidreletric powerplants, the river knick zones are being degraded and lost, even though they are not fully understood. Therefore, we plan to characterize short-period variations on a knick zone in River Sapucaí-Mirim (SP), verifying its physical and chemical properties and their influences on the zooplankton assemblage. Five isolated pools and five parcially connected pools with the main channel will be selected as sampling points and also a riffle and a run for comparative purposes.There will be two sample expeditions, one at the beginning and another at the end of the dry period, with environmental measures every 3h and water and organisms samples being collected every 6h.