Root carbohydrate storage in young saplings of an Amazonian tidal várzea forest before the onset of the wet season

Scarano, Fabio Rubio; Cattânio, José Henrique; Crawford, Robert M.M.

doi:10.1590/S0102-33061994000200002

Abstracts

Root starch and glucose content were measured for young saplings of 18 Amazonian tidal várzea tree species during a dry season. The pattern of carbohydrate storage depended on the type of plant involved and soil topography which is directly linked to flood regime. Most plants showed high root carbohydrate content at this point in the dry season, however, several typically flood-tolerant species (particularly palm trees) presented a low root carbohydrate content, suggesting a strategy of acquiring reserves during the wet season to survive the dry season, when depletion occurs. Plant survival in these flood-prone forests seems to be the result of more than only one adaptive mechanism.

Amazon; carbohydrate; flooding; roots; tidal várzea

Conteúdo de amido e glucose foi medido em raízes de plantas jovens de 18 espécies arbóreas de várzea de estuário amazônico durante o pico da estação seca, antecedendo o início da estação chuvosa. O padrão de armazenamento de carboidratos dependeu do tipo de planta envolvido e da topografia do terreno, que é diretamente ligada ao regime de inundação. Parte das espécies estudadas mostrou alto conteúdo de carboidratos neste período, contudo, várias espécies tipicamente tolerantes à inundação (particularmente palmeiras) mostraram baixa concentração de carboidratos neste ponto antecedendo a estação chuvosa. Tal resposta sugere a existência para estas espécies de uma estratégia de aquisição de reservas durante a estação de cheia para uso durante a estação seca. Sobrevivência vegetal nestas florestas inundáveis parece resultar de mais de um único mecanismo adaptativo.

Amazônia; carboidratos; inundação; raízes; várzea de estuário

Root carbohydrate storage in young saplings of an Amazonian tidal várzea forest before the onset of the wet season^* * Sponsored by ODA-British Council and developed at the Combu Project, Belém, and St. Andrews University, Scotland. ^,^** ** Paper given at the XLIV Congresso Nacional de Botânica, São Luís- Maranhão, Brasil.

Armazenamento de carboidratos antecedendo à estação chuvosa em raízes de plantas jovens em floresta de várzea de estuário amazônico

Fabio Rubio Scarano^I; José Henrique Cattânio^II; Robert M.M. Crawford^III

^IDepartamento de Ecologia. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Cidade Universitária, CCS - Bloco A. CEP 21941-970. Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brasil

^IIDepto. de Ecologia. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Caixa Postal 399. CEP 66040. Belém-PA, Brasil

^IIISchool of Life Sciences, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, The University, St. Andrews, KYI 6 9AJ, Scotland

ABSTRACT

Root starch and glucose content were measured for young saplings of 18 Amazonian tidal várzea tree species during a dry season. The pattern of carbohydrate storage depended on the type of plant involved and soil topography which is directly linked to flood regime. Most plants showed high root carbohydrate content at this point in the dry season, however, several typically flood-tolerant species (particularly palm trees) presented a low root carbohydrate content, suggesting a strategy of acquiring reserves during the wet season to survive the dry season, when depletion occurs. Plant survival in these flood-prone forests seems to be the result of more than only one adaptive mechanism.

Key words: Amazon, carbohydrate, flooding, roots, tidal várzea.

RESUMO

Conteúdo de amido e glucose foi medido em raízes de plantas jovens de 18 espécies arbóreas de várzea de estuário amazônico durante o pico da estação seca, antecedendo o início da estação chuvosa. O padrão de armazenamento de carboidratos dependeu do tipo de planta envolvido e da topografia do terreno, que é diretamente ligada ao regime de inundação. Parte das espécies estudadas mostrou alto conteúdo de carboidratos neste período, contudo, várias espécies tipicamente tolerantes à inundação (particularmente palmeiras) mostraram baixa concentração de carboidratos neste ponto antecedendo a estação chuvosa. Tal resposta sugere a existência para estas espécies de uma estratégia de aquisição de reservas durante a estação de cheia para uso durante a estação seca. Sobrevivência vegetal nestas florestas inundáveis parece resultar de mais de um único mecanismo adaptativo.

Palavras-chave: Amazônia, carboidratos, inundação, raízes, várzea de estuário.

Full text available only in PDF format.

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Overseas Developmental Agency (British Council) for financing, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi for logistic support, Mr. Oscar Quaresma for field identification of the plants, the people of Combu Island for their patience and support, Mr. Harry Hodge for laboratorial support in St. Andrews, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Recebido em 26.03.93.

Aceito em 30.06.94

Boehringer & Mannheim. 1987. UV-method for the determination of native starch in foodstuffs and other materials (kit's instruction leaflet).
Brändle, R. & Crawford, R.M.M. 1987. Rhizome anoxia tolerance and habitat specialization in wetland plants. In Crawford, R.M.M. (ed.) Plant Life in Aquatic and Amphibious Habitats. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, p. 397-410.
Crawford, R.M.M. 1992. Oxygen as an ecological limit to plant distribution. Advances in Ecological Research 23: 93-185.
Crawford, R.M.M.; Studer, C. & Studer, K. 1989. Deprivation indifference as a survival strategy in competition: advantages and disadvantages of anoxia tolerance in wetland vegetation. Flora 182: 189-201.
Ericsson, A. & Persson, H., 1980. Seasonal changes in starch reserves and growth of fine roots of 20-year-old Scots pines. Ecol.Bull. 32: 239-250.
Figueiredo-Ribeiro, R.C.L.; Dietrich, S.M.C.; Chu, E.P.; Machado de Carvalho, M.A.; Vieira, C.C.J. & Graziano,T.T. 1986. Reserve carbohydrates in underground organs of native Brazilian plants. Revta. bras. Bot. 9: 159-166.
Junk, W.J. 1989. Flood tolerance and tree distribution in Central Amazonian floodplains. In Holm-Nielson, L.B. et al. (eds.). Tropical Forests - Botanical Dynamics, Speciation and Diversity. Academic Press, p.47-64.
Keel, S.H.K. & Prance, G.T. 1979. Studies of the vegetation of a white-sand blackwater igapó (Rio Negro, Brazil). Acta Amazonica 9(4):645-655.
Kozlowski, T.T. & Keller,T. 1966. Food relations of woody plants. Bot. Rev. 32(4):293-382.
Kozlowski, T.T & Pallardy, S.G. 1984. Effect of flooding on water, carbohydrate and mineral relations. In Kozlowski, T.T.(ed.). Flooding and Plant Growth. Academic Press, p. 165-193.
Prance, G.T. 1979. Notes on the vegetation of the Amazon III. The terminology of Amazonian forest types subject to inundation. Brittonia 31(1):26-38.
Scarano, F.R. & Crawford, R.M.M. 1992. Ontogeny and the concept of anoxia-tolerance: the case of the Amazonian leguminous tree Parkia pendula. Journal of Tropical Ecology 8: 349-352.
Setter, T.L.; Waters, J.; Atwell, B.J.; Kapanchanakul, T. & Greenway, H. 1987. Carbohydrate status of terrestrial plants during flooding. In Crawford, R.M.M. (ed.). Plant Life in Aquatic and Amphibious Habitats. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, p. 411-433.
Steinmann, F. & Brändle, R. 1984. Carbohydrate and protein metabolism in the rhizomes of the bullrush (Schoenoplectus lacustris L. Palla) in relation to natural development of the whole plant. Aquatic Botany 19: 53-63.
Worbes, M. 1985. Structural and other adaptations to long-term flooding by trees in Central Amazonia. Amazoniana 9(3): 459-484.
Worbes, M. 1986. Lebensbedingungen und Holzwachstum in zentralamazonischen Uberschwemmungswaldem. Scripta geobotanica 17.

*

Sponsored by ODA-British Council and developed at the

Combu Project, Belém, and St. Andrews University, Scotland.

**

Paper given at the XLIV Congresso Nacional de Botânica, São Luís- Maranhão, Brasil.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
10 June 2011
Date of issue
Dec 1994

History

Accepted
30 June 1994
Received
26 Mar 1993

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

[1] Boehringer & Mannheim. 1987. UV-method for the determination of native starch in foodstuffs and other materials (kit's instruction leaflet).

[2] Brändle, R. & Crawford, R.M.M. 1987. Rhizome anoxia tolerance and habitat specialization in wetland plants. In Crawford, R.M.M. (ed.) Plant Life in Aquatic and Amphibious Habitats. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, p. 397-410.

[3] Crawford, R.M.M. 1992. Oxygen as an ecological limit to plant distribution. Advances in Ecological Research 23: 93-185.

[4] Crawford, R.M.M.; Studer, C. & Studer, K. 1989. Deprivation indifference as a survival strategy in competition: advantages and disadvantages of anoxia tolerance in wetland vegetation. Flora 182: 189-201.

[5] Ericsson, A. & Persson, H., 1980. Seasonal changes in starch reserves and growth of fine roots of 20-year-old Scots pines. Ecol.Bull. 32: 239-250.

[6] Figueiredo-Ribeiro, R.C.L.; Dietrich, S.M.C.; Chu, E.P.; Machado de Carvalho, M.A.; Vieira, C.C.J. & Graziano,T.T. 1986. Reserve carbohydrates in underground organs of native Brazilian plants. Revta. bras. Bot. 9: 159-166.

[7] Junk, W.J. 1989. Flood tolerance and tree distribution in Central Amazonian floodplains. In Holm-Nielson, L.B. et al. (eds.). Tropical Forests - Botanical Dynamics, Speciation and Diversity. Academic Press, p.47-64.

[8] Keel, S.H.K. & Prance, G.T. 1979. Studies of the vegetation of a white-sand blackwater igapó (Rio Negro, Brazil). Acta Amazonica 9(4):645-655.

[9] Kozlowski, T.T. & Keller,T. 1966. Food relations of woody plants. Bot. Rev. 32(4):293-382.

[10] Kozlowski, T.T & Pallardy, S.G. 1984. Effect of flooding on water, carbohydrate and mineral relations. In Kozlowski, T.T.(ed.). Flooding and Plant Growth. Academic Press, p. 165-193.

[11] Prance, G.T. 1979. Notes on the vegetation of the Amazon III. The terminology of Amazonian forest types subject to inundation. Brittonia 31(1):26-38.

[12] Scarano, F.R. & Crawford, R.M.M. 1992. Ontogeny and the concept of anoxia-tolerance: the case of the Amazonian leguminous tree Parkia pendula. Journal of Tropical Ecology 8: 349-352.

[13] Setter, T.L.; Waters, J.; Atwell, B.J.; Kapanchanakul, T. & Greenway, H. 1987. Carbohydrate status of terrestrial plants during flooding. In Crawford, R.M.M. (ed.). Plant Life in Aquatic and Amphibious Habitats. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, p. 411-433.

[14] Steinmann, F. & Brändle, R. 1984. Carbohydrate and protein metabolism in the rhizomes of the bullrush (Schoenoplectus lacustris L. Palla) in relation to natural development of the whole plant. Aquatic Botany 19: 53-63.

[15] Worbes, M. 1985. Structural and other adaptations to long-term flooding by trees in Central Amazonia. Amazoniana 9(3): 459-484.

[16] Worbes, M. 1986. Lebensbedingungen und Holzwachstum in zentralamazonischen Uberschwemmungswaldem. Scripta geobotanica 17.