Sucessão de invertebrados durante o processo de decomposição de duas plantas aquáticas ( Eichhornia azurea e Polygonum ferrugineum)

Abstract

The invertebrate colonization was investigated during 56-day decomposition of two macrophytes species (Eichhornia azurea and Polygonum ferrugineum). The aim was to determine the role of macroinvertebrates in the process of leaf fragmentation. During material analysis, 2096 invertebrates were associated with E.azurea and 6154 were associated with P. ferrugineum, identified in 18 taxons, with predominance of Diptera larvae (Chironomidae family specially), followed by Oligochaeta species and microcrustaceans such as Cladocera and Copepoda. In both macrophytes the macroinvertebrates showed a significant increase of density through the process of decomposition, which is probably associated with the loss of phenolic compounds. Results suggest that macrophytes specimens show specific associations with their consumers, i.e., the succession process of colonization becomes singular according to the phenolic characteristics of the plant