Capitulo 19: Pampeans Rivers

RODRIGUES CAPITULO, A; GABELLONE, N.A.; GIORGI, ADONIS; RODRIGUES CAPITULO, L.; GOMEZ N,

South American Rivers

ELSEVIER

Lugar: Amsterdam ; Año: 2024; p. 1 - 800

The Pampa is a vast area of temperate grasslands, steppes or prairies and scrublands extending through the plains and low hills of central-eastern Argentina, Uruguay and South Brazil. The climate is humid or temperate subtropical with hot summers without dry season or water deficit. The annual precipitation ranges between 600 and 1200 mm. The rivers with their sources in thew Pampas are short, with slow flowing waters due to the low slope. The lack of riparian trees, high radiation and the slow flow favor the development of submerged, floating, and emergent aquatic plants and epiphytic algae. This allows a high biological diversity (invertebrates, fish, birds and amphibians). Turbidity is generally high because of high suspended solids and humic substances. Floods in this flat and uniform landscape under strong human influence with high population density cause significant economic losses.Key words: Pampa ecoregion. Lowland rivers. Floodplain. Variable flow. Low velocity. Suspended solids. Agricultural and industrial pollution. High urbanization.