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River dynamics and the diversity of Amazon lowland forest

Nature volume 322, pages 254–258 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

We suggest here that large-scale natural forest disturbance and primary succession in the lowland rainforests of the Peruvian Amazon is caused by lateral erosion and channel changes of meandering rivers. Our results indicate that in the upper Amazon region, primary succession on newly deposited riverine soils is a major mode of forest regeneration. Landsat imagery analyses show that 26.6% of the modern lowland forest has characteristics of recent erosional and depositional activity; 12.0% of the Peruvian lowland forest is in successional stages along rivers. This successional development is used to classify the western Amazon rainforests according to their geomorphological erosion–deposition pattern. We also propose that by causing high site turnover, disturbance and variation in forest structure, the river dynamics may be a major factor creating and maintaining the high between-habitat (β-type) species diversity characterizing the upper Amazon1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Turku, SF-20500, Turku, Finland

    Jukka Salo, Risto Kalliola, Ilmari Häkkinen, Yrjö Mäkinen, Pekka Niemelä & Maarit Puhakka

  2. Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA

    Phyllis D. Coley

Authors
  1. Jukka Salo
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Salo, J., Kalliola, R., Häkkinen, I. et al. River dynamics and the diversity of Amazon lowland forest. Nature 322, 254–258 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/322254a0

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