Composition and taxonomic similarity of the periphytic algal community in different natural substrates in a neotropical floodplain, Brazil

Abstract

The present study investigated the species composition and taxonomic similarity of periphytic algae on three species of macrophytes (Eichhornia azurea Kunth, Nymphaea amazonum Martius & Zuccarini and Oxycaryum cubense (Poeppig & Kunth) Lye) and also some limnological variables in a lake permanently connected to the Paraná River at the Upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil, from June 2008 to March 2009. During the study period, the Paraná River showed irregular flood pulses and indistinct hydrological periods. In this same period, 406 taxa of periphytic algae were identified, distributed mainly in the classes Zygnemaphyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae; and Cyanobacteria. Similarity analysis based on taxonomic composition of sampling periods and substrates showed low values and primarily represented a temporal segregation of periphytic algal community, mainly in June 2008 from others. Secondly, the microespacial segregation occurred to a lesser extent, according to the type of substrate, especially between O. cubense and others. It comprises first steps for understating the comparative structure of periphytic algal community in these distinct substrates at the Paraná River floodplain.