Structure and Function of the Large Central Amazonian River Floodplains: Synthesis and Discussion

Abstract

According to the flood pulse concept (Junk et al. 1989; Sect. 1.3) the flood pulse is the main driving variable in large river-floodplain systems. It leads to varying environmental conditions, periodic changes in plant and animal communities, and intensive multiple interactions between the terrestrial and the aquatic phases in the Aquatic Terrestrial Transition Zone (ATTZ). Major biotic processes which determine the function of the river-floodplain system in respect to production and decomposition of organic material and related processes are concentrated in the floodplain. The main river and its affluents influence the floodplain by the hydrological regime, erosion and sediment deposition, the input and export of dissolved substances, and the exchange of organisms. In the previous chapters, the available information on central Amazonian river floodplains has been presented and discussed under specific aspects. In this chapter an attempt is made to synthesize the results and draw some generalities.