1. Why study aquatic ecology of the tropics?

7. Presence of wetlands Northern Canada/ Alaska Continental U.S.Equatorial Neotropics Number of wetland scientists Latitude distribution of wetlands based on Matthews and Fung (1987), global lakes and wetlands database (GLWD), and gross wetland map (redrawn from Lehner and Doll 2004)

8. Cuenca, Ecuador

12. Lago de Josephina

14. Lago de Josefina, Cuenca, Ecuador

16. Paraguay River Drainage Basin Pantanal

17. The Pantanal 140,000 km 2 of seasonally inundated floodplain West Central Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay Ecological sub-regions: - - river corridors - gallery forests - - perennial wetlands and lakes - - seasonally inundated grasslands - - terrestrial forests Flora influenced by: - - cerrado (central Brazil) - - chaco (Bolivia, Paraguay) - - Amazon

18. minimum maximum Source: Ponce 1995 Paraguay River at Ladario: Recorded seasonal max and min stages Stage (cm)

22. Caiman yacare

23. Capped Heron: Pilherodius pileatus

24. Southern Screamer: Chauna torquata

25. Jabiru: Jabiru mycteria

26. Turquoise-fronted Parrot: Amazona a. aestiva

27. Hyacinth Macaw Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus

28. White-faced Capuchin: Cebus capucinus (not in Pantanal)

29. Piranha: Serrasalmus spiropleura

32. Water hyacinth: Eichhornia crassipes Giant water lily: Victoria amazonica

33. Rooted water hyacinth: Eichhornia azurea

34. Cambara: Vochysia divergens

35. Environmental Threats in the Pantanal Agricultural development Mining Urban waste Navigation projects Poaching Tourism growth

42. Venha conhecer o maior e melhor hotel do Pantanal!

43. Paraguay-Paraná Hidrovía Would make the 3,440 km Paraguay-Paraná river system navigable year-round from Nueva Palmira (Uruguay) to Cáceres (Brazil). Would improve or construct the infrastructure needed to service the increased shipping capacity.

45. Timeline A channelized waterway into the heart of South America is an old idea and the Paraguay-Paraná have been navigated for many decades. Late 1980s: Intergovernmental Committee on the Hidrovía created to oversee the development of this waterway. 1990: Publication of an economic feasibility study. 1995-1997: Engineering, economic, and environmental assessments of the proposed project. 1990s: Cost-benefit “disputes”. 1998: Brazil halts plans for construction activities along the Brazilian portion of the waterway. Since 2000: Fate of Hidrovía remains uncertain and new plans are underway.

47. Remnant river channel Channelized system Source: South Florida Water Management District

49. Fortney et al. 2004

50. Sources: Schaller (1983), Hamilton (1999), Fortney and Gottgens (2005) Stage (m) Fazenda IpirangaFazenda Acurizal 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 0 10 20 30 JanMarMayJulSepNov 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 0 5 10 15 20 JanMarMayJulSepNov Precipitation (cm)

51. Flooded area (km 2 ) at low water No changeStage decrease of 10 cm Stage decrease of 25 cm Northern Pantanal (3 subregions) 8075 6887 (15%) 4782 (41%) Total Pantanal (8 subregions) 1221910785 (12%) 8385 (31%) [Data from Hamilton, 1999] Lateral Flood Pulse

54. Monthly distributions of annual flood peaks Source: Ponce (1995) Longitudinal Flood Pulse

55. Economic benefits Environmental benefits Sustainable development ? ?

58. BioScience, 2001