2008 - Dr. Wolfgang Junk, National Amazonian Research Institute, Cuiaba, Brazil
The Canadian Rivers Institute is delighted to have Dr. Junk as our 2008 Hynes Lecturer. is a retired leader of the Working Group of Tropical Ecology at Max Planck-Institute for Limnology, Plon, Germany. Currently, he is a visiting professor at INPA and State University of Manaus (UEA), Manaus, and Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiaba, Brasil.
Dr. Junk's area of expertise is in ecology and sustainable management of floodplains, land-water interactions. His main research areas are: studies on biomass, primary production, and decomposition of wetland plant communities; nutrient fluxes between land and water; adaptations of plant and animals to periodical drought and flooding; ecology of aquatic macrophytes and fish communities; biodiversity; conceptional considerations on river-floodplain systems, sustainable management of wetland resources and wetland protection with emphasis on the Amazon River floodplain and the Gran Pantanal, Brazil.
On Wednesday, October 15th, 7 pm, Dr. Junk will be delivering a public lecture on "Why rivers need floods: lessons from the Amazon and elsewhere"at Hazen Hall Lecture Theatre, UNB Saint John.
On Friday, October 17th, 2:30 pm Dr. Junk will deliver a public lecture on "Floodplains of tropical versus temperate regions: similarities and differences" at Bailey Hall room 146, UNB Fredericton.
Abstracts
Why Rivers Need Floods: Lessons From the Amazon and Beyond
River floodplains are very complex ecosystems. Hydrologic dynamics and the shift between terrestrial and aquatic phases create permanently changing environmental conditions that are difficult to understand and even more difficult to predict. However, the species-rich and, in part, highly adapted flora and fauna point to inherent regulations that make river floodplain systems to a certain extent predictable and explain the development of the various adaptations of their plants and animals. The Flood Pulse Concept (FPC) integrates scientific data to explain the structure, function, and biodiversity of river floodplains. It also contributes to predicting the impacts of floods and droughts as well as those of man-made changes on the hydrology, connectivity between floodplain and river channel, and in the resident flora and fauna. This lecture provides an overview of floodplain ecology in the context of the FPC. The most common human impacts on floodplains are discussed and proposals are made for the sustainable management of floodplain ecosystems.
Floodplains of tropical versus temperate regions: similarities and differences
Large-river floodplains occur along the entire climatic gradient, from high latitudes to the humid tropics. These climatic variations have a major impact on the biota living in river-floodplain ecosystems. Differences in the reactions of plants and animals to similar flooding events can be explained by differences in climate; however, they also require an analysis of the paleo-climatic history, as it strongly influenced the evolution of organisms and, due to the varying extinction rates, the composition of the fauna and flora. Evidence for this view is provided by comparing the ecological conditions in the tropical Amazon River floodplain and the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil, with those in the large-river floodplains located in temperate regions of Europe and North America. Poster
