Adaptation to water level variation: Responses of a floating-leaved macrophyteNymphoides peltatato terrestrial habitats

Abstract

-A straightforward experimental approach was carried out to study the adaptation responses of a typical floating-leaved aquatic plant Nymphoides peltata to changes in water availability. N. peltata grown in terrestrial habitat was approximately 88.77% lower in total biomass, 62.75% higher in root biomass allocation, 80.9% higher in root-shoot ratio, and 54.5% longer in leaf longevity compared with N. peltata grown in aquatic habitats. Anatomical analyses suggest that aquatic-grown N. peltata exhibits a well-developed lacunal system in leaf, petiole, and coarse root. Moreover, aquatic-grown N. peltata had approximately a higher in lacunal system in leaf, petiole, and coarse root by 28.57%, 56.41% and 82.35%, respectively, than those of terrestrial-grown N. peltata. These results indicated that N. peltata was well adapted to the terrestrial habitat because of its biomass allocation, morphological, and anatomical strategies that depended on the increase in root biomass allocation and leaf longevity, as well as the decrease in the lacunal system volume in leaf, petiole, and coarse root. This indicates that N. peltata can develop multiple morphological and anatomical strategies, an integrated approach to enhance survival in dynamic and unpredictable environments.

Aquatic and terrestrial morphotypes of the aquatic invasive plant, Ludwigia grandiflora, show distinct morphological and metabolomic responses

“…Biomass allocation reveals the survival strategies and adaptations to the environmental of the (micro)habitats where plants are developing (Xie, An, & Wu, 2005). Several invasive aquatic weeds are known for their ability to respond to different water levels by adjustments of the root system and/or biomass allocation (Geng et al, 2006;Hussner, Meyer, & Busch, 2009;Kercher & Zedler, 2004;Li, Yu, & Xu, 2011). All results indicated that L. grandiflora was well adapted to the terrestrial habitat because of its biomass allocation, morphological strategies that depended on the increase in root biomass allocation and water content.…”

Variation in resource allocation strategies and environmental driving factors for different life‐forms of aquatic plants in cold temperate zones

“…For emergent plants, the stoichiometry was mainly mediated by DO (Figure 4f), which might be explained by the requirement of plants to adjust their stoichiometry to address growth limited by oxygen deprivation as emergent plants grow in anoxic soils (Lacoul & Freedman, 2006;Sterner & Elser, 2002); additionally, oxygen contents may significantly affect nutrient uptake and utilization by emergent plants by affecting the root microbial community (Fang et al, 2019). GSP was important for floating-leaved plants and submerged plants (Figure 4g,h) because precipitation volumes and frequencies may affect hydrologic conditions; some studies, for example, have suggested that floating-leaved plants such as N. peltata show different biomass allocation strategies and morphological and anatomical traits that adapt to water-level variation (Li et al, 2011), and the growth performance and stoichiometric characteristics of submerged plants are affected by water levels (Lacoul & Freedman, 2006;Li et al, 2013). Thus, the stoichiometric characteristics of aquatic plants in response to environmental conditions could be affected by the life-forms of aquatic plants produced through phylogenetic evolution.…”

“…Emergent plants, which are considered to resemble terrestrial plants, are less aquatic than euhydrophytes, such as submerged plants (Cronk & Fennessy, 2001). Floating-leaved plants, such as Trapa bispinosa Roxb., have specialized filamentous lobes that can be suspended to absorb nutrients in water and replace some functions of roots (Lacoul & Freedman, 2006;Li et al, 2011).…”

“…peltata show different biomass allocation strategies and morphological and anatomical traits that adapt to water-level variation (Li et al, 2011), and the growth performance and stoichiometric characteristics of submerged plants are affected by water levels (Lacoul & Freedman, 2006;Li et al, 2013). Thus, the stoichiometric characteristics of aquatic plants in response to environmental conditions could be affected by the life-forms of aquatic plants produced through phylogenetic evolution.…”

Suppressed growth of the submersed macrophyteVallisneria natansin a non-rooted suspended state

“…Introduction Apart from numerous environmental factors which affect the growth of aquatic plants such as nutrient supply (Sculthorpe 1967), water level (Bornette and Amoros 1996;Yang et al 2004;Xiao et al 2006;Li et al 2010Li et al , 2011, and waterfowl grazing (Rodrı´guez-Villafan˜e et al 2007), other natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as current velocity, wave action, and boating activities greatly influence aquatic macrophytes. The direct actions of current velocity, waves, and boating activities have been reported to cause the dislodgment of submersed plants (Nilsson 1987;Strand and Weisner 1996;Eriksson et al 2004).…”