The role of charophytes (Charales) in past and present environments: An overview

Schneider, Susanne C.; Garcı́a, Adriana; Martı́n-Closas, Carles; Chivas, Allan R.

doi:10.1016/j.aquabot.2014.10.001

Cited by 58 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In our opinion, these results demonstrate that charophytes are not only sensitive bioindicators but they also have the ability to modify habitat conditions (Kufel and Kufel 2002; Schneider et al 2015). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…We can assume that a significant proportion of phosphorus will be accumulated in an insoluble form as carbonates and be bound for a long time in the lake sediments (Schneider et al 2015). Using the values given by Kufel et al (2013), the fraction of calcium-bound phosphorus (HCl-SRP) may constitute, on average, 20.6 % of TP in the dry weight.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Depth-dependence and monthly variability of charophyte biomass production: consequences for the precipitation of calcium carbonate in a shallow Chara-lake

Pukacz

Pełechaty

Frankowski

2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The month-to-month variability of biomass and CaCO3 precipitation by dense charophyte beds was studied in a shallow Chara-lake at two depths, 1 and 3 m. Charophyte dry weights (d.w.), the percentage contribution of calcium carbonate to the dry weight and the precipitation of CaCO3 per 1 m2 were analysed from May to October 2011. Physical-chemical parameters of water were also measured for the same sample locations. The mean dry weight and calcium carbonate precipitation were significantly higher at 1 m than at 3 m. The highest measured charophyte dry weight (exceeding 2000 g m−2) was noted at 1 m depth in September, and the highest CaCO3 content in the d.w. (exceeding 80 % of d.w.) was observed at 3 m depth in August. The highest CaCO3 precipitation per 1 m2 exceeded 1695 g at 1 m depth in August. Significant differences in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) were found between 1 and 3 m depths; there were no significant differences between depths for other water properties. At both sampling depths, there were distinct correlations between the d.w., CaCO3 content and precipitation and water properties. In addition to PAR, the water temperature and magnesium and calcium ion concentrations were among the most significant determinants of CaCO3 content and d.w. The results show that light availability seems to be the major factor in determining charophyte biomass in a typical, undisturbed Chara-lake. The study results are discussed in light of the role of charophyte vegetation in whole ecosystem functioning, with a particular focus on sedimentary processes and the biogeochemical cycle within the littoral zone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depth-dependence and monthly variability of charophyte biomass production: consequences for the precipitation of calcium carbonate in a shallow Chara-lake

Pukacz

Pełechaty

Frankowski

2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…Charophytes, extant and fossil members of the order Charales plus the members of the extinct orders Sycidiales and Moellerinales (Schneider et al. ), are algae with a complex morphology, which are closely related to modern land plants (Timme et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Charophytes, extant and fossil members of the order Charales plus the members of the extinct orders Sycidiales and Moellerinales (Schneider et al 2015a), are algae with a complex morphology, which are closely related to modern land plants (Timme et al 2012). It was long believed that Charales were the closest living relatives to land plants, that is, that the tremendous diversity of land plants all descended from a single charophyte alga (Karol et al 2001).…”

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confidence: 99%

DNA barcoding the genus Chara: molecular evidence recovers fewer taxa than the classical morphological approach

Schneider

Rodrigues

Moe

et al. 2015

Journal of Phycology

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Charophytes (Charales) are benthic algae with a complex morphology. They are vulnerable to ecosystem changes, such as eutrophication, and are red-listed in many countries. Accurate identification of Chara species is critical for understanding their diversity and for documenting changes in species distribution. Species delineation is, however, complicated, because of high phenotypic plasticity. We used barcodes of the ITS2, matK and rbcL regions to test if the distribution of barcode haplotypes among individuals is consistent with species boundaries as they are currently understood. The study included freshly collected and herbarium material of 91 specimens from 10 European countries, Canada and Argentina. Results showed that herbarium specimens are useful as a source of material for genetic analyses for aquatic plants like Chara. rbcL and matK had highest sequence recoverability, but rbcL had a somewhat lower discriminatory power than ITS2 and matK. The tree resulting from the concatenated data matrix grouped the samples into six main groups contrary to a traditional morphological approach that consisted of 14 different taxa. A large unresolved group consisted of C. intermedia, C. hispida, C. horrida, C. baltica, C. polyacantha, C. rudis, C. aculeolata, and C. corfuensis. A second unresolved group consisted of C. virgata and C. strigosa. The taxa within each of the unresolved groups shared identical barcode sequences on the 977 positions of the concatenated data matrix. The morphological differences of taxa within both unresolved groups include the number and length of spine cells, stipulodes, and bract cells. We suggest that these morphological traits have less taxonomic relevance than hitherto assumed.

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“…The Characeae, or stoneworts, are a group of green macroalgae found in aquatic ecosystems on all continents except Antarctica (Wood & Imahori, 1965). Species in this family are essential parts of ecosystems: They provide forage for birds, invertebrates, and fish and are important for colonizing new habitats and stabilizing sediments (Blindow, Hargeby, & Andersson, 2002;Crawford, 1979;Schneider, García, Martín-Closas, & Chivas, 2015). In Europe, studies of Characeae richness have shown that habitat degradation and eutrophication have led to the decline of these ecologically important species (Baastrup-Spohr, Iversen, Dahl-Nielsen, & Sand-Jensen, 2013;Simons & Nat, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling climate and water chemistry to predict changes in freshwater macrophyte distributions

Sleith

Wehr

Karol

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Forecasting changes in the distributions of macrophytes is essential to understanding how aquatic ecosystems will respond to climate and environmental changes. Previous work in aquatic ecosystems has used climate data at large scales and chemistry data at small scales; the consequence of using these different data types has not been evaluated. This study combines a survey of macrophyte diversity and water chemistry measurements at a large regional scale to demonstrate the feasibility and necessity of including ecological measurements, in addition to climate data, in species distribution models of aquatic macrophytes. A survey of 740 water bodies stratified across 327,000 square kilometers was conducted to document Characeae (green macroalgae) species occurrence and water chemistry data. Chemistry variables and climate data were used separately and in concert to develop species distribution models for ten species across the study area. The impacts of future environmental changes on species distributions were modeled using a range of global climate models (GCMs), representative concentration pathways (RCPs), and pollution scenarios. Models developed with chemistry variables generally gave the most accurate predictions of species distributions when compared with those using climate variables. Calcium and conductivity had the highest total relative contribution to models across all species. Habitat changes were most pronounced in scenarios with increased road salt and deicer influences, with two species predicted to increase in range by >50% and four species predicted to decrease in range by >50%. Species of Characeae have distinct habitat ranges that closely follow spatial patterns of water chemistry. Species distribution models built with climate data alone were insufficient to predict changes in distributions in the study area. The development and implementation of standardized, large‐scale water chemistry databases will aid predictions of habitat changes for aquatic ecosystems.

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The role of charophytes (Charales) in past and present environments: An overview

Cited by 58 publications

References 46 publications

Depth-dependence and monthly variability of charophyte biomass production: consequences for the precipitation of calcium carbonate in a shallow Chara-lake

Depth-dependence and monthly variability of charophyte biomass production: consequences for the precipitation of calcium carbonate in a shallow Chara-lake

DNA barcoding the genus Chara: molecular evidence recovers fewer taxa than the classical morphological approach

Untangling climate and water chemistry to predict changes in freshwater macrophyte distributions

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