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Growth and turion formation of Potamogeton crispus in response to different phosphorus concentrations in water

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Abstract

The vegetative growth and turion formation of Potamogeton crispus, a submersed aquatic macrophyte, was investigated under a range of phosphorus (P) concentrations (0.025, 0.25, 2.5 and 25 mg P L−1) in the ambient water free of algae, aiming to identify the responses of submersed aquatic macrophytes to nutrient enrichment, a common eutrophication problem in China and worldwide. Plant growth was not affected by different P concentrations in terms of biomass accumulation of stems and leaves. However, the contents of chlorophyll a and starch in plants decreased with increasing water P levels, whereas chlorophyll b and carotenoids declined with P level ranging from 0.025 to 2.5 mg P L−1. The soluble sugar content decreased when water P concentration increased up to 2.5 mg L−1. The P content in plants increased with increasing water P levels, whereas plant N content decreased and soluble protein increased when water P concentration increased over 0.25 mg L−1, implying that P. crispus may have modified its metabolism to adapt to water P availability. When P concentration increased to 25 mg L−1, the number and dry matter production of turions per plant decreased significantly. Meanwhile, there was a significant reduction in turion weight and the accumulations of soluble sugar and starch in turion, when water P concentration was over 0.25 mg L−1. The results suggest that turion formation in P. crispus is sensitive to P concentration in the ambient water, and high P levels may lead to decreases in P. crispus populations due to the decline in turion production.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40973056) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (2005ABA042) for financial support; Assoc. Prof. Anguo Liu for meteorological data; Assoc. Prof. Bo Qu for statistical analysis. This work was part of the Research and Demonstration on Agro-Ecological Restoration Technology in Danjiangkou Reservoir Region for the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (Grant No. 2007BAD87B09).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Sciences and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Lei Wang, Tewu Yang, Liangqing Liu & Congming Zhu

  2. Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Ecological Environment Research, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Duanwei Zhu & Xiaoqiong Wan

  3. Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand

    David Hamilton

  4. Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 105, Hamilton, VIC, 3300, Australia

    Zhongnan Nie

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  1. Lei Wang
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Correspondence to Tewu Yang.

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Wang, L., Yang, T., Zhu, D. et al. Growth and turion formation of Potamogeton crispus in response to different phosphorus concentrations in water. Aquat Ecol 47, 87–97 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-012-9427-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-012-9427-7

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