Mata ciliar na proteção de fluxo de nutrientes em corpos hídricos lacustres

Abstract

Riparian forests are essential to the environmental ecological balance offering protection to water bodies, protection for the soil, reducing the silting and the force of the water coming into rivers, lakes and reservoirs. They maintain water quality by preventing the entry of pollutants into the aquatic environment and forming corridors that contribute to biodiversity conservation. They also provide food and shelter for wildlife, are natural barriers against the spread of pests and diseases in agriculture and their deforestation not only reduces wildlife habitat and ecological corridors, but also directly impacts the decreasing quality water flow itself the habitat of these animals, may cause changes and climatic imbalances and the loss of water quality. When the content of soil organic matter is not sufficient to retain the nutrients in its surface layers, these are carried by rainwater or irrigation to the lower parts of the vegetation reaching water bodies. In the absence of riparian vegetation, the flow of water during a storm, tends to undermine the banks of water bodies causing the fall of trees that are close. Along with the water can drain and various kinds of materials or products, including the macro and micro nutrients used in agriculture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of riparian vegetation on the flow of nutrients to the banks of the water body lake called "Açude Limeira" located in the city of Alfenas - MG, in contrast to a grazing area without riparian forest, whose areas are steep and flat, called "Açude Marolândia" located in the municipality of Machado - MG. the two weirs water analyzes were performed to observe the protective effect of riparian vegetation on the flow of nutrients and also a survey of the main existing tree species in this riparian forest. The interpretation of the data reveals that the riparian forest protects a water body lake against the macro and micronutrients entrainment showing to be efficient in the retention of the studied sediments.