The submersed macrophyte, Vallisneria natans L., was cultured in laboratory with NH 4? -enriched tap water (1 mg L -1 NH 4 -N) for 2 months and the stressful effects of high ammonium (NH 4 ? ) concentrations in the water column on this species was evaluated. ? is very high in the water column and the restoration of submersed vegetation is far from success. Vallisneria natans L. is a common rosette submersed macrophyte in China. In the program of the restoration of submersed vegetation, it is frequently selected as a pioneer species to be introduced into some eutrophic Chinese lakes. However, there is little information on the effects of high NH 4? concentrations on the plant. In this study, V. natans was cultured in laboratory with NH 4? -enriched tap water for two months. The aim was to examine the stressful effects of high NH 4? concentration on the plant by monitoring the plant growth and carbon and nitrogen metabolisms.
Materials and MethodsIn May 2003, eighty V. natans seedlings of 15 cm height were collected from Lake Liangzi at the outskirt of Wuhan city, China. The seedlings were separately transplanted into 80 cups (7 cm in diameter, 10 cm high) that was filled with sediment collected from the mesotrophic part of Lake Donghu. The concentrations of NO 3 -N, NH 4 -N and PO 4 -P in the sediment pore-water were 0.22 mg L -1 , 1.59 mg L -1 and 0.04 mg L -1 , separately. The seedlings were cultured outdoor in four tanks (1 9 1 9 0.8 m), among which two tanks were filled with tap water (NO 3 -N: 1.06 mg L -1 , NH 4 -N: undetectable, PO 4 -P: undetectable) and regarded as the control and the other two tanks were filled with NH 4? -enriched tap water by adding ammonium carbonate to achieve 1 mg L -1 NH 4 -N in the water column.