Whitewater rivers

Many deciduous and coniferous trees contain varying levels of phenolics, including tannins. Blackwater rivers in forested areas of the world, such as the Amazon basin or the southern United States, carry phenolics (tannins) leached out of trees. Such rivers differ in plant and animal life from whitewater rivers. ... 

In this chapter we discuss the distribution and the development of plant communities in floodplain areas, mainly of the big whitewater rivers, focusing on factors such as diversity, species composition, biomass and primary production. Based upon these factors, we also discuss the annual dynamics of bioelements stocks and their turnover through herbaceous and floodplain forest communities. Finally, we examine the implications of such nutrient dynamics and turnover for the aquatic biota. We do not address carbon and nutrient budgets, as these are thoroughly discussed in chapter 14. 

Most limnological studies have been completed near the confluence of the Solimoes and Negro rivers, which combine at Manaus to form the Amazon River. These rivers are biogeochemically distinct systems. The Solimoes River, called a whitewater river, is rich in dissolved nutrients and suspended sediments and has extensive, fertile flood-plains. The Negro River is nutrient poor and contains high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, hence it is called a black-water river. 

Large expanses of floating macrophytes develop and decay each year on the flood-plain of the central Amazon basin 0unk 1970 1997). Herbaceous macrophytes are especially abundant in lakes associated with whitewater rivers, where nutrient-rich sediments and waters stimulate their development. A seasonal succession of herbaceous plant communities occurs in lakes as the ATT2 expands and shrinks in synchrony with... 

Early studies in the Amazon Basin showed that the waters were chemically and physically very heterogeneous. The first classification of Amazonian rivers was based on their physical appearance (4). Whitewater rivers are rich in dissolved... 

Albemaz, A, L. K. M., and J. M. Ayres. 1999. Selective logging along the Middle Solimoes river. In Varzea. Diversity, Development, and Conservation of Amazonia s Whitewater Floodplains, eds. C. Padoch, J. M. Ayres, M, Pinedo-Vasquez, and A. Henderson (The New York Botanical Garden Press, New York), pp. 135-151. 

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