Successional processes

During the aquatic phase plants are detached from the sediments and drift with the current. They contribute to the carbon pool of the main channel of the Amazon River and also accelerate the colonization of newly created open areas formed by the deposition of sediments. Quick colonization creates a range of different stages of allogenic succession in the floodplains. The velocity of the successional process will depend upon the stability of the habitat. Isolated floodplain lakes, where deposition rates of sediments are small, show a slow but gradual colonization process while, processes on sand bars and mud flats in the river channel are more dynamic and often reversible (Junk and Piedade 1997). 

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