Influence of flood pulse and anthropogenic impacts on water quality and biodiversity of zooplankton community in water bodies of Xingu watershed inserted in areas directly influenced by Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant

Abstract

Water quality and composition of biotic communities in river ecosystems exhibit high dynamics in space and time. Different environmental and anthropogenic factors, such as the flood pulse, the land use and occupation in the surroundings, and the distinct landscape mosaics, are those associated to such dynamics. In the Xingu River basin, specifically in the lower middle portion, the region known as the Volta Grande do Xingu presents a series of hydrological and ecological particularities which make it a unique region in terms of limnology as well as high diversity and endemism. Considering these relevant environmental characteristics and location of the basin in the middle Amazon region, there is a broad interest in information about the structure of the ecological functioning and biodiversity of this region. Another factor that draws attention to the region is that the site was selected for the installation of a large hydroelectric project, which will cause positive and negative impacts on local, regional and national levels. Thus, this research project aims to analyze the water quality and the characteristics of the zooplankton community in the Xingu River and its tributaries in the region of the Volta Grande for two hydrological cycles, contributing to the production of relevant information on the limnology and biodiversity (alpha, beta and gamma) of large Amazonian rivers and on the ecology of tropical aquatic ecosystems. (AU)