Ecosystemic functions of riparian vegetation in agricultural landscapes on the primary productivity of streams

Abstract

The riparian vegetation has received attention in scientific studies because of the different functions that these ecosystems exert on the water quality and availability. Besides these factors, it receives great attention nowadays due to current discussions of changes in the new forest code in Brazil. Brazil is the largest cane sugar producer in the world and the State of São Paulo is the largest producer in Brazil. Inside these cultures are inserted many headwater streams, which drain water to many rivers and reservoirs that supply the consumption and irrigation of the population that surrounds it. Therefore, these ecosystems require studies due to the fragility and importance that they represent. Thus, this study aims to clarify if the general structure of riparian vegetation (proportion in the landscape, species richness and density) influence their functions (shading, thermal effect, allochthonous material input) and relate them to the possible differences in primary productivity, biomass, elemental composition and nutritional status of the periphyton and water quality in tropical streams, considering the importance that this community represents to the food chain and the current condition of the water resources of Corumbataí river basin. It is expected that the results obtained in this study enable to generate data as a basis to science and to the creation of public policies related to conservation of water resources inserted in agro ecosystems and generate indexes by periphyton for biomonitoring the quality of water in agricultural watersheds. (AU)