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| Author(s): |
Elizabethe de Campos Ravagnani
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/STB) |
| Defense date: | 2015-09-02 |
| Examining board members: |
Luiz Antonio Martinelli;
Marcelo Luiz Martins Pompeo;
Odete Rocha;
Fabio Roland
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| Advisor: | Luiz Antonio Martinelli |
| Abstract | |
The Atlantic Forest suffered and continues suffering anthropogenic pressure. Nowadays, it occupies 15% of its original coverage in the state of São Paulo. The Paraíba do Sul River is one of the most important rivers of the Atlantic Forest, located in the most developed region of the country. There is a lack of deeper studies of the structure and functioning of this and other rivers of this forest, as first order rivers, that are extremely important, because they can connect terrestrial environment to larger rivers. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the distribution of C and N and other physicochemical variables of the main rivers located at the Alto Paraíba do Sul Basin: the Paraíba do Sul River (RPS) an its formers, the Paraibuna (RPB) and Paraitinga (RPT) rivers, also investigating the chemical composition of small rivers located in preserved areas of Atlantic Forest, comparing them with third order rivers, and also focused on the verification of how the conversion of forest to pasture affects the distribution of carbon and nitrogen in these streams. Monthly samples of water were taken from February 2012 to January 2013, for verification of pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and temperature values, plus the determination of total dissolved nitrogen, inorganic dissolved nitrogen, organic dissolved nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, organic dissolved carbon and inorganic dissolved carbon concentrations. Suspended particulate material of the 3rd order rivers and their bottom sediment were sampled, for determination of ?13C, ?15N and C and N content, besides the C:N ratio. The majority of ammonium samples presented concentrations below detection limit. The results show significant statistical differences between the Paraibuna and the Paraitinga and Paraiba do Sul rivers, concerning the values of electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, nitrate, total dissolved nitrogen and inorganic dissolved carbon. These 3rd order rivers presented nitrate, inorganic nitrogen, organic nitrogen, total dissolved nitrogen and dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations, plus pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and temperature values different from 1st order rivers. Among the forest and pasture rivers the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration, electrical conductivity and temperature values were different. The results suggest that the Paraibuna River differs from the other two 3rd order rivers, probably because 55% of its total basin area is covered with forest, while the Paraitinga and Paraiba do Sul rivers present a great part of their basin area occupied with pastures, 57% and 42%, respectively. Nevertheless, these rivers did not present characteristics of extremely altered rivers, which is the reality of other rivers of the State of São Paulo, located in urban or sugar cane crop areas, which can cause much more impacts to rivers than pasture. The 3rd and 1st order rivers present sub utilized pasture that do not receive fertilizers, thereby, being the probable cause why pasture rivers are not so different from the forest rivers (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 10/52705-0 - Nitrogen and carbon dynamics in rivers of the Alto Paraíba do Sul basin, São Paulo State |
| Grantee: | Elizabethe de Campos Ravagnani |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |