Macrophyte species richness and composition are correlated with canopy openness and water depth in tropical floodplain lakes

Abstract

Aquatic macrophytes colonize a variety of environments, and they play important roles in ecosystem function and in community structure. One key challenge for aquatic ecologists is to investigate the environmental factors that drive the richness and distribution of these plants. In this study, we assessed the importance of selected morphometric variables and of the canopy openness of the riparian vegetation to explain macrophyte species richness and composition. We sampled macrophytes along gradients of depth, littoral slope, distance from the connection with the river, and canopy openness in floodplain lakes connected with the Upper Paraná River. We used quadrats to survey a total of 40 sites in 11 lakes. We recorded 31 macrophyte species and found that macrophyte richness was best and positively correlated with canopy openness. This correlation suggests that canopy openness plays an important role as an environmental filter, regulating the amount of light availability for macrophytes. Macrophyte species composition was best correlated with depth, indicating that zonation of macrophyte species also occurs in these shallow lakes. These findings emphasize the importance of morphometric variables and canopy openness for structuring macrophyte assemblages. In addition, our results suggest that canopy openness and depth may be considered in management strategies aiming to recover macrophyte diversity and the processes mediated by aquatic macrophytes in small and shallow floodplain lakes.