A Classification of Major Naturally-Occurring Amazonian Lowland Wetlands

Our estimates indicate that about 30% of the seven million square kilometers that make up the Amazon basin comply with international criteria for wetland definition. Most countries sharing the Amazon basin have signed the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance but still lack compl...

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Published inWetlands (Wilmington, N.C.) Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 623 - 640
Main Authors Junk, Wolfgang J., Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez, Schöngart, Jochen, Cohn-Haft, Mario, Adeney, J. Marion, Wittmann, Florian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.08.2011
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Animal species
Biogeochemical cycles
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Classification
Classification systems
Coastal Sciences
Ecology
Environmental Management
Featured Article
Floods
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Hydrogeology
Hydrology
Landscape Ecology
Life Sciences
Plant diversity
Rain
River basins
Rivers
Secondary productivity
Sediments
Soil fertility
Soil water
Vegetation
Vegetation cover
Water levels
Wetlands
Guyana
Brazil
Argentina
Amazon River
Black River
Bolivia
Higher vegetation
Hydrology
Water types
Amazon basin
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Summary:Our estimates indicate that about 30% of the seven million square kilometers that make up the Amazon basin comply with international criteria for wetland definition. Most countries sharing the Amazon basin have signed the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance but still lack complete wetland inventories, classification systems, and management plans. Amazonian wetlands vary considerably with respect to hydrology, water and soil fertility, vegetation cover, diversity of plant and animal species, and primary and secondary productivity. They also play important roles in the hydrology and biogeochemical cycles of the basin. Here, we propose a classification system for large Amazonian wetland types based on climatic, hydrological, hydrochemical, and botanical parameters. The classification scheme divides natural wetlands into one group with rather stable water levels and another with oscillating water levels. These groups are subdivided into 14 major wetland types. The types are characterized and their distributions and extents are mapped.
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ISSN:0277-5212
1943-6246
DOI:10.1007/s13157-011-0190-7