Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Compensatory growth of a submerged macrophyte (Vallisneria spiralis) in response to partial leaf removal: effects of sediment nutrient levels

Compensatory growth of a submerged macrophyte (Vallisneria spiralis) in response to partial leaf... Many plants mitigate damage due to loss of tissues through compensatory growth, yet their compensatory abilities vary depending on physical and environmental conditions. We conducted an outdoor experiment using a 2 × 2 factorial experimental design (leaf damage and nutrient level), in order to evaluate the compensatory growth response of Vallisneria spiralis (a submerged macrophyte widely distributed in China) to partial leaf removal in two nutrient regimes. Our results reveal that under both high- and low-nutrient conditions, V. spiralis exhibited substantial compensatory growth response to partial leaf removal via accelerated growth rates, with significantly greater compensatory abilities observed in the high-nutrient sediments. These observations suggest that V. spiralis has a strong compensatory ability to partial leaf removal, providing arguably one of the major mechanisms for the coexistence of this plant with herbivores, in particular, in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems (e.g. Lake Taihu). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Ecology Springer Journals

Compensatory growth of a submerged macrophyte (Vallisneria spiralis) in response to partial leaf removal: effects of sediment nutrient levels

Aquatic Ecology , Volume 44 (4) – Jan 1, 2010

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/compensatory-growth-of-a-submerged-macrophyte-vallisneria-spiralis-in-PhpO0yqCpU

References (40)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Subject
Life Sciences; Ecosystems; Freshwater & Marine Ecology
ISSN
1386-2588
eISSN
1573-5125
DOI
10.1007/s10452-009-9308-x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Many plants mitigate damage due to loss of tissues through compensatory growth, yet their compensatory abilities vary depending on physical and environmental conditions. We conducted an outdoor experiment using a 2 × 2 factorial experimental design (leaf damage and nutrient level), in order to evaluate the compensatory growth response of Vallisneria spiralis (a submerged macrophyte widely distributed in China) to partial leaf removal in two nutrient regimes. Our results reveal that under both high- and low-nutrient conditions, V. spiralis exhibited substantial compensatory growth response to partial leaf removal via accelerated growth rates, with significantly greater compensatory abilities observed in the high-nutrient sediments. These observations suggest that V. spiralis has a strong compensatory ability to partial leaf removal, providing arguably one of the major mechanisms for the coexistence of this plant with herbivores, in particular, in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems (e.g. Lake Taihu).

Journal

Aquatic EcologySpringer Journals

Published: Jan 1, 2010

There are no references for this article.