The present paper reviews the literature on reproduction, survival, dispersion and competition in aquatic plants of mostly European rivers. The specificity of the strategies of colonization in aquatic plants in comparison with terrestrial plants is noted. The importance of the knowledge of these life history traits in the control of the harmful effects caused by aquatic plants and for ecosystem management is also considered. The difficulty of applying current ecological theories concerning adaptative strategies to aquatic plants is discussed, focusing on the great interest of studying the species traits of aquatic macrophytes for testing such theories and interpreting recolonization patterns of disturbed areas. Knowledge of strategies of reproduction, dispersion and competition among aquatic plants remains very fragmentary, particularly from a quantitative view-point, and further studies are required both for theoretical and practical applications. Nomenclature: The nomenclature follows Tutin et al. (1964) for most of the species.

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The regeneration (regrowth into viable plants) and colonization (establish ment in the sediment) abilities of vegetative fragments of 16 aquatic plant species occurring in habitats with different disturbance frequencies were compared through a laboratory experiment. The hypothesis was that plants occurring in habitats frequently disturbed by floods should have higher regeneration and colonization abilities than plants in rarely disturbed habitats. Four types of fragments were collected from the plants and their regrowth and/or rooting into the sediment were recorded over 10 weeks. Numerous species exhibited a trade-off between their regeneration and coloni zation abilities (e.g. Sparganium emersum, Luronium natans), others presented frag ments with high abilities in both fi elds (e.g. Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton coloratus), and others showed fragments with low abilities in both fields (e.g. Utricu laria vulgaris, Potamogeton lucens). The characteristics of two species (Potamogeton coloratus, Ceratophyllum demersum) did not fit in very well with the hypothesis, but this could be explained by their competitive abilities and ecological amplitude. Most species from habitats rarely disturbed by fl oods presented low regeneration and colo nization abilities. As predicted, species from habitats with high or intermediate dis turbance frequencies presented at least one of the two tactics, and this could be related to their adaptation strategies in withstanding disturbance events.