Phytoperiphyton associated with macrophytes in a tropical floodplain of the Atrato River basin, Quibdó, Chocó-Colombia

Abstract

The phytoperiphyton is one of the main communities in swamps or floodplains given its fundamental role in the energy flow, the nutrient cycle, and the primary productivity of these ecosystems. In the present study, I analyzed the phytoperiphytic community associated with three macrophyte species (Ludwigia sedoides Humb. and Bonpl. Hara 1953, Nymphoides indica L. Kuntze, 1891, and Eichhornia azurea Swartz. Kunth, 1843) in a tropical swamp in the Atrato River basin, Chocó-Colombia. I collected the phytoperiphyton samples between May and August 2014 from the roots of three specimens of each of the species under study, and I measured some physical and chemical variables of the surrounding water. I registered a density of 1160.63 ind.cm-2 distributed in 82 morphospecies, 26 families, 16 orders, and eight classes, the Bacillariophyceae class being the most abundant. L. sedoides presented the highest density and associated phytoperiphytic richness. I found differences in the density, richness, diversity, and dominance of the phytoperiphyton among the studied macrophytes (p<0.05). Clustering analysis based on the Jaccard index indicated a low similarity in the composition of the phytoperiphytic community among the macrophyte species, as well as a marked effect of the hydrological period. The present study constitutes a baseline for the knowledge of the phytoperiphytic communities associated with macrophytes in the swamps of low tropical areas such as the Atrato River basin.