Phase 2:Ikuranntu Blackwater River

Plants

Many species of the vegetal life around the Blackwater River seem to be affected by the black soil of the river, these evolutionary changes are mainly of appearance, represented in a dark pigmentation and downward tilt of leaves and stems. This downward tilt at the ends of leaves is due the weight of particle accumulation that gives to some plants a spiral shape. A remarkable characteristic of this dark coloration is the blackest plants reflect less brightly than the same species of plants with normal coloration.

Most of the surveys of the floodplain forest flora found 220 species of vascular plants growing in the remnant river section. This inventory was conducted long after extensive forest clearing had occurred and did not include a comparably rich flora of wetland plants found in non-forest communities on the floodplain. Studies of this 75-mile floodplain remnant revealed a mosaic of aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial communities, including oxbow lakes, ponds, marshes, sand dunes, shorelines, in-channel islands, sand bars, forests, and agricultural fields. Natural vegetation communities along the Blackwater River feature forests with a wide variety of species. The dominant floodplain trees are vaeree, a large slender tree with blue leaves, kiala, a small stocky tree with dark grey leaves and hyea, a tall tree with blue-grey leaves.

Subdominant trees include peach-leaved xea trees and yellow-leaved kaer. Common shrubs and woody vines included xare, a blue lived scrub, iarle, a small woody srub and naeu, a long green vine. Some of these berries are poisonous and other are edible, the near the plants are to the river the darkest their fruits are, the coloration does not affect the flavor. There are few herbs that can be used to make medicine, instead many plants are used to dye cloth or make black paint, and the colorant is easier to get from some plants than directly from the black soil. These forests form a successional series of ecological communities, from the youngest, dominated by kaer formed on fresh alluvium on low benches, to the oldest, dominated by xea on high benches.

The river initiates the succession by meandering across its floodplain during floods and eroding older forests on the outside of river curves while creating point bars on the inside of curves for pioneer tree establishment. Approximately two-thirds of the floodplain forest flora occurs in the successional xea forests that depend on river meandering. Downstream the overall floodplain flora becomes considerably richer, particularly the woody component. On the lower portions of the river, cottonwood and willow are the dominant species on recently deposited and exposed sandbars accumulated by past floods of the river. Further successional species are more diverse than in the northern reaches of the river, vala (a tree with dark blue leaves), tae (a tree with light blue leaves and silver bark, cyai (a small but narrow tree), and several aer replace xea and kaer and forms an intermediate successional stage.

The deep forest includes several species of kaer, xea, va'rol (a tree with blue, stringy bark), reaca (a tree with long braches and green leaves), realai (a tall narrow tree) and aa'adi (a silver left tree). From the middle of the river to the south, forest, shrubs, and coarse grasses occupy most of the active floodplain, while higher terraces are nearly covered with prairie. It´s often to find traces of cut trees. A large portion of these woodlands was removed to provide resources to make tools, fuel bonfires, and build rafts and boats. Also, it´s possible to find the remains of makeshift forts, cabins and huts unfinished or that ended up being destroyed by attacks. Despite the frequent cutting of trees, zu'aan activity does not have much impact on the vegetation.

Animals

High biodiversity both within forest communities and across the floodplain could not be maintained without the rejuvenating forces of floods and channel meandering. Similar patterns is for forest-dwelling animals; the number of species of reptiles, insects, small mammals and birds peaked in forests of mid-successional age. Same as the plants, many animals which lives near the river banks presents black coloration due the plants they eat. This ephemeral, species-rich stage was historically sustained by new forests created by a meandering river. These species include eaza, bley, fynra'ni, eemyk, julkta , and kha . These animals use the Blackwater River valley as protection from harsh winters and summer heat.

The anyau are different than other places, due the black coloration of some of the trees their teeth become black and harder, it´s normal zu'aan hunt beavers to get their teeth to make tools and weapons. The floodplain forest community provides nesting habitat for a wide range of bird species, from open country birds in the youngest, post-flood communities, to shrub-loving bird species in middle-aged cottonwood communities, to forest-dwelling birds in the most mature forests. Peaks in both species number and population of birds were reached in older successional forests because of their high vertical stratification. The large size and hollow trunks and branches of older cottonwood trees provided nesting cavities for bird-like lifeforms.

More than 50 species of songbirds were found along the upper Blackwater River, and approximately 50 percent were tropical migrants. 39 species of tropical migrants utilize Blackwater River floodplain forests as stopover habitat. There are more than 100 species of fishes in the Blackwater River such as the veriv, narung, zargf , miets, hoai, yun, kilkil, swo’daq hammerhead, tisaa, lakcua, ili, and ilos each one of these has varieties. Some fishes were introduced by zu'aan and could survive in the river, kiaya and uails have also become established and are a major food source for the ili and the hoai. Some of the threatened or endangered species. These are the least tern, piping plover, and a unique fish species, the pallid sturgeon.

The aure were thought to live primarily in large, turbid rivers downstream from its confluence. It utilized overflow areas on the floodplain, backwaters, chutes, sloughs, islands, sandbars, and main channel bank lines, pools, and snags. Because it feeds on aquatic invertebrates and fish that prey upon aquatic invertebrates, the lower velocity margins of the main and extra channels were essential habitats for the pallid sturgeon. Some information suggested that aure readily utilized off-channel habitats for feeding and nursery and main channels for spawning. The k'ahr and the veaer are two examples of common native fish species. This small minnow was well adapted to the river’s turbid environment.

It lived among the numerous sandbars, feeding on living and dead plant material, and was an important component of the trophic web of the pre-regulation Blackwater River. It is believed since the water is very dark there can´t be seen many of the species that live deeper in the river, there are stories of large fishes that have been seen eating birds and small mammals, which can be unidentified species of fishes. Although the sights are rare the incidence is enough to recognize the kind of estrange fishes is the same and is clearly possible to differentiate these fishes from mythological creatures in the zu'aan stories.

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