Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 16, 2026

A Simple Planting Technique for Re-establishing Trees Where Frequent Inundation Occurs
Published on: January 26, 2018
Litter and nutrient flows in tropical upland forest flooded by a hydropower plant in the Amazonian basin
Guilherme Henrique A Pereira1, Henos Carlos K Jordão2, Vanessa Francieli V Silva3
1Colégio Militar de Manaus - Comando do 9° Distrito Naval/ Marinha do Brasil, R. José Clemente, 157, Centro, 60010-070, Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Abstract:
Extensive areas in the Brazilian Amazon have been flooded for the construction of hydroelectric dams. However, the water regime of these areas affects the dynamics of igarapés (streams) in adjacent terra firme (upland forests). When the reservoirs are filled, the water levels of streams rise above the normal levels and upland bank forests are flooded. We investigated how this flooding affects the litterfall and nutrient input in the upland forests upstream of a hydroelectric dam reservoir in the Central Amazonia. When the reservoir was filled, the forests were flooded and produced more than twice the litter (8.80Mg·ha-1yr-1), with three times more leaves (6.36Mg·ha-1yr-1) than when they were not flooded (4.20 and 1.92Mg·ha-1yr-1, respectively). During flooding, the decomposition rate was four times lower in flooded forests (0.328g·g-1yr-1) than in control forests (1.460g·g-1yr-1). Despite this, the flooding did not favor litter or nutrient accumulation. Therefore, dam construction changes the organic matter and nutrient cycling in upland Amazon rainforests. This may influence the important role that they play in organic matter dynamics and could have consequences for the regional carbon balance and, ultimately, global climate.
Related Concept Videos
Responses to Drought and Flooding
Xylem and Transpiration-driven Transport of Resources
Water and Mineral Acquisition
Underflow Gates
Regulation of Water Output
Primary Production

