Aquatic macrophyte and macroinvertebrate diversity and conservation in wetlands of the Sinos River basin

Wetlands are important sites for biological conservation because they support rich biodiversity and present high productivity. Species-area relationship is an important tool in conservation planning and it has been extensively used for wetland management. This study had as aims: (1) to analyse macrophyte and macroinvertebrate diversity in the fragmented wetlands of the Sinos River basin; and (2) to investigate whether wetland areas could work as a tool for selecting the important habitats for biodiversity conservation. Throughout the study, 56 species of macrophytes and 57taxa of macroinvertebrates were identified. Macrophyte richness was related to the wetland area, but macroinvertebrate richness, however, was not related to the wetland area. The macrophyte and macroinvertebrate composition were not related to the wetland area. Species composition varied between the regions of the basin and the difference in the species composition occurred mainly by the distribution of macroinvertebrates. With regard to the biodiversity conservation of the Sinos River basin, the wetland area must not be a priority criterion for choosing the important wetlands for conservation. The environmental policies for biodiversity conservation must include management actions focused also on the protection of small wetlands. Moreover, other criteria should be analysed in further research such as habitat diversity, hydroperiod, geographic distribution and connectivity

Responses of freshwater molluscs to environmental factors in Southern Brazil wetlands

Freshwater molluscs play an important role in aquatic ecosystems, providing food for many fish species and vertebrates. Investigations on factors that determine mollusc species richness and distribution in wetland systems are scarce in the Neotropical region. The main goal of this study was to determine how much variation in mollusc richness and composition is explained by area, hydroperiod, altitude, water conductivity, and dominant aquatic vegetation. This survey was performed in an extensive area of a Neotropical region (~280,000 km² in southern Brazil), with a large number of wetland systems (111) and covering a wide gradient of altitude and wetland surface area. The mollusc richness was positively associated with wetland area and negatively associated with altitude. The richness and composition of the freshwater molluscs were similar between permanent and intermittent wetlands and it did not differ significantly between aquatic bed and emergent wetlands. The first three axes of CCA explained 16.2% of the total variation in the composition of the freshwater mollusc observed. The variation in the composition had a correlation with wetland area, altitude and water conductivity. Our results showed that the wetlands are important habitats for molluscs in southern Brazil, and that the richness and the composition of molluscs were associated with area, altitude, water conductivity and dominant vegetation