The study of aquatic macrophytes in Neotropics: a scientometrical view of the main trends and gaps

Abstract

Aquatic macrophytes comprises a diverse group of organisms including angiosperms, ferns, mosses, liverworts and some macroalgae that occur in seasonally or permanently wet environments. Among other implications, aquatic macrophytes are highly productive and with an important structuring role on aquatic environments. Ecological studies involving aquatic plants substantially increased in the last years. However, a precise view of researches devoted to aquatic macrophytes in Neotropics is necessary to reach a reliable evaluation of the scientific production. In the current study, we performed a scientometrics analysis of the scientific production devoted to Neotropical macrophytes in an attempt to find the main trends and gaps of researches concerning this group. The publication devoted to macrophytes in Neotropics increased conspicuously in the last two decades. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile were the most productive among Neotropical countries. Our analyses showed that the studies dealt mostly with the influences of aquatic macrophytes on organisms and abiotic features. Studies with a predictive approach or aiming to test ecological hypothesis are scarce. In addition, researches aiming to describe unknown species are still necessary. This is essential to support conservation efforts and to subsidize further investigations testing ecological hypotheses.Keywords: macrophytes, Neotropics, scientometrics, trends, lacks. O estudo de macrófitas aquáticas na região neotropical: uma visão cienciométrica dos principais padrões e lacunas ResumoMacrófitas compreendem um diverso grupo de organismos macrofíticos, incluindo angiospermas, samambaias, musgos, hepáticas e algumas macroalgas que ocorrem em ambientes sazonalmente ou permanentemente inundados. Dentre outras implicações, as macrófitas aquáticas são altamente produtivas e com um importante papel na estruturação nos ambientes aquáticos. Estudos ecológicos envolvendo plantas aquáticas cresceram substancialmente nos últimos anos. Entretanto, uma visão precisa das pesquisas sobre macrófitas na região Neotropical é necessária para uma avaliação confiável da produção científica. No presente estudo, uma análise cienciométrica sobre macrófitas Neotropicais foi realizada com o intuito de identificar os principais padrões e lacunas nas pesquisas sobre esse grupo biológico. As publicações sobre macrófitas na região Neotropical cresceu conspicuamente nas últimas duas décadas. Brasil, Argentina, México e Chile foram os mais produtivos dentre os países Neotropicais. As análises mostraram que os estudos enfocaram principalmente as influências das macrófitas nos organismos e nas características abióticas. Estudos com uma abordagem preditiva ou testando hipóteses ecológicas são escassos. Adicionalmente, pesquisas com o objetivo de descrever espécies desconhecidas ainda são necessárias. Isso é essencial para subsidiar esforços de conservação e investigações futuras testando hipóteses ecológicas.Palavras-chave: macrófitas aquáticas, biodiversidade, ciências da informação.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates associated with Eichhornia azurea (Swartz) Kunth and relationships with abiotic factors in marginal lentic ecosystems (São Paulo, Brazil)

“…They are sites for feeding of fish, birds and mammals (Brendonck et al, 2003;Padial et al, 2008) and substrates for spawning, development and emergence of partially aquatic and aquatic insects (Cremona et al, 2008). They provide food and shelter against predators for aquatic macroinvertebrates (Tessier et al, 2004) and young ichthyofauna (Sánchez-Botero et al, 2007).…”

The scientific literature on Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker 1857) from 1982 to 2012

“…For instance, some papers were published in journals of engineering and water resources (e.g., Environmental Science and Technology and the Journal of the American Water Works Association), since the species had an economic impact to manmade structures (Mansur et al 2003). The journal that published the most papers on golden mussel was Hydrobiologia and this journal was also the favorite for studies on macrophytes in the Neotropics (Padial et al 2008), following the general pattern noted by Hendriks and Duarte (2008) and Melo et al (2006). This pattern is probably related to the fact that Hydrobiologia publishes papers in all sub-fields of Limnology, with no bias regarding organism (Melo et al 2006).…”

“…Furthermore, the USA is on the same continent as its main collaborators (some countries essentially collaborate only with countries that are close geographically) (Katz 1994), which probably facilitates cooperation (Leta and Chaimovich 2002). Padial et al (2008) also showed that the USA cooperated the most in studies of aquatic macrophytes published by Neotropics. In parallel, using modeling techniques, Oliveira et al (2010a) demonstrated the forecasts of the potential distribution of L. fortunei in three major North American river systems (Mississippi, Colorado, and Rio Grande).…”

Comunidades de macrófitas en ríos andinos: composición y relación con factores ambientales

“…Los resultados de riqueza de especies no son fácilmente comparables con otros estudios, no sólo porque son escasos los trabajos sobre macrófitas en ríos de montaña (Padial et al, 2008), sino porque el concepto de macrófita puede variar entre distintos estudios. Sin embargo, se puede afirmar que los resultados de este estudio están dentro del rango esperado para ambientes de piedemonte o montaña, que no son altamente diversos en macrófitas (Jacobsen y Terneus, 2001;Baattrup-Pedersen et al, 2006;Hrivnák et al, 2014), y pueden considerarse bajos cuando se comparan con ambientes de tierras bajas de zonas templadas y tropicales (Ranieri et al, 2015).…”

“…Aunque en el Neotrópico se han hecho inventarios detallados de flora acuática (Ferreira et al, 2001;Terneus, 2007;Posada y López, 2011;Ramos et al, 2012;Mormul et al, 2013) y trabajos sobre la ecología de algunas especies (Mitchell y Thomas, 1972) y trabajos sobre la estructura y dinámica de comunidades de macrófitas (Padial et al, 2008;Padial et al, 2009;Souza et al, 2011), el estudio de estas comunidades es todavía escaso en el neotrópico.…”