Aquatic Plant Control Research Program: Effects of Water Chemistry on Aquatic Plants: Interrelationships among Biomass Production, Plant Nutrition, and Water Chemistry.
Abstract
Growth of the submersed aquatic plants Egeria densa, Hydrilla verticillata, and Potamogeton nodosus was examined under two aeration regimes (ambient air and carbon dioxide (CO2)-enriched air) in three solutions differing in levels of major cations (calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), and potassium (K) and inorganic carbon (CT). Study objectives were to evaluate the effects of plant growth on solution chemical composition; interrelationships among solution chemistry, plant growth, and nutrition; and the relative importance of solution and sediment as potential growth-limiting factors. Plant growth was shown to be limited by inorganic carbon supply in the low-cation, low-carbon solution, and by sediment nitrogen (N) availability in the higher cation, higher carbon solutions. The response of submersed aquatic plants to solution was thus affected by sediment N supply. While plant requirements of N and P (phosphorus) were provided by root uptake from sediment, K was provided by foliar uptake from solution. Both inorganic carbon and sediment N were identified as factors potentially limiting the growth of field populations of submersed aquatic plants. Keywords: Aquatic plants, Carbon dioxide limitation, Egeria, Hydrilla, Nutrient limitation, Nutrient uptake, Potamogeton, Submersed macrophytes, Water chemistry.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA194189
Entities
People
- John W. Barko
- R. M. Smart