An analysis of water level dynamics in Esteros del Ibera wetland

There are several freshwater systems associated to large rivers in South America, being the inland wetlands one of substantial significance from an environmental and ecological point of view. Largely sub-valued and unknown, the permanent-temporary flooded ecosystems related to the Parana River in Argentina and Paraguay must be studied in view to their conservation. In the particular case of the Ibera wetlands, their extension (14,000 km(2)), their inaccessibility, and the scarcity of available data need to be taken into account when attempting to study water dynamics. As a tool to understand the hydrology, main driving force of the ecosystem, a water balance was performed for analyzing the state of the system. As a result, a good agreement between measured water levels and calculated balance was encountered and the possibility of a non-previously considered ground-water inflow tested. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.