Flood regime and water table determines tree distribution in a forest-savanna gradient in the Brazilian Pantanal

Abstract

This study aimed to recognized the preferential location of species of the tree sinusiae in response to a moisture gradient in Pantanal Matogrossense, Brazil. We established sampling plots of arboreal sinusiae along a soil moisture and flood gradient. Piezometers were installed, allowing monthly measurements of water table depth and flood height during one year. Detrended Correspondence Analysis, Gradient Direct Analysis, Multi-response Permutation Procedures and Indicator Species Analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of moisture gradient on tree distribution. The annual variation of water table is shallower and similar in Seasonally Flooded Forest and Termite Savanna, with increasing depths in Open Savanna, Savanna Forest and Dry Forest. Circa 64% of the species were characterized as having a preferential location in "terrestrial habitats normally not subjected to inundation", while 8% preferentially occur in "wet habitats". Lowest tree richness in flood-affected vegetation types is related to both present-day high climatic seasonality and Late Pleistocene dry paleoclimates in the Pantanal wetland. The tree distribution across different formations in the Pantanal shows a direct relationship with soil moisture gradient.