Water as an Environment for Plant Life

Wetzel, Robert G.

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-3087-2_1

Cited by 19 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…It is well documented that the underwater light plays an important role in determining the depth distribution of different groups of aquatic macrophytes (Sculthorpe 1971;Chambers and Kalff 1985;Dale 1986;Chambers and Prepas 1988;Hrivnak et al 2006). Water level is closely related to light transmission, with deeper water hindering the processes of scattering and absorption (Wetzel 1988;Sand-Jensen and Borum 1991). A number of reports indicate that certain species of aquatic macrophytes, mostly submerged ones, usually extend into the depths in order to maximize their absorption of the light and CO 2 needed for photosynthesis; for example, Hydrilla sp.…”

Section: Lightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the distribution patterns of aquatic macrophytes

Pandit

Ganai

2014

Limnological Review

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Aquatic macrophytes constitute important components of many freshwater ecosystems. The manifold role of aquatic macrophytes in freshwater habitats is closely linked to their distribution, which in turn depends on a myriad of factors. Foremost, among these are light, water temperature, water quality changes and nutrient enrichment, sediment composition and fluctuations in water levels. Light and temperature are of paramount importance in determining the distribution (with depth, season and latitude), thereby influencing productivity and species composition as well. Sediment compositions markedly affect the growth rates of macrophytes which in turn have a profound influence on the distribution of aquatic macrophytes. Water quality changes and nutrient enrichment can cause considerable variations in the species richness, composition, and density of aquatic vegetation. The reduction in water levels could bring drastic changes in the species composition and distribution of macrophytes. Factors associated with competition, herbivory, land use and land cover changes etc. also play an important role in shaping macrophyte distribution and community structure. In this review we examine both biotic and abiotic factors that influence the structural attributes like species composition, distribution, abundance and diversity of aquatic macrophytes.

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Section: Lightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the distribution patterns of aquatic macrophytes

Pandit

Ganai

2014

Limnological Review

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“…Their flat floating leaves facilitate maximal absorption of incoming light and high productivity. The high specific heat and low heat conductivity of water offer these plants stable thermal conditions and hence a longer growing season than experienced by neighboring terrestrial plants (Wetzel, 1988). Potentially, therefore, they are highly productive.…”

Section: Are Aquatic Habitats Especially Productive Of Usos?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shallow‐water habitats as sources of fallback foods for hominins

Wrangham

Cheney

Seyfarth

et al. 2009

American J Phys Anthropol

160

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Underground storage organs (USOs) have been proposed as critical fallback foods for early hominins in savanna, but there has been little discussion as to which habitats would have been important sources of USOs. USOs consumed by hominins could have included both underwater and underground storage organs, i.e., from both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Shallow aquatic habitats tend to offer high plant growth rates, high USO densities, and relatively continuous USO availability throughout the year. Baboons in the Okavango delta use aquatic USOs as a fallback food, and aquatic or semiaquatic USOs support high‐density human populations in various parts of the world. As expected given fossilization requisites, the African early‐ to mid‐Pleistocene shows an association of Homo and Paranthropus fossils with shallow‐water and flooded habitats where high densities of plant‐bearing USOs are likely to have occurred. Given that early hominins in the tropics lived in relatively dry habitats, while others occupied temperate latitudes, ripe, fleshy fruits of the type preferred by African apes would not normally have been available year round. We therefore suggest that water‐associated USOs were likely to have been key fallback foods, and that dry‐season access to aquatic habitats would have been an important predictor of hominin home range quality. This study differs from traditional savanna chimpanzee models of hominin origins by proposing that access to aquatic habitats was a necessary condition for adaptation to savanna habitats. It also raises the possibility that harvesting efficiency in shallow water promoted adaptations for habitual bipedality in early hominins. Am J Phys Anthropol 140:630–642, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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“…Water level is closely related to light transmission, with deeper water hindering the processes of scattering and absorption (Wetzel 1988). Submerged macrophytes usually extend into the depths in order to maximize their absorption of the light and CO 2 needed for photosynthesis; for example, Hydrilla verticillata is very effective in elongating its shoots (Barko and Smart 1981;Maberly and Madsen 2002).…”

Section: Effect Of Water Depthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Light, Temperature, and Water Depth on Growth of a Rare Aquatic Plant, Ranunculus kadzusensis

Han

Cho

et al. 2010

J. Plant Biol.

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Ranunculus kadzusensis is an endangered aquatic plant species that commonly reproduces in the rice paddies of Korea and Japan during winter and early spring. Here, we investigated the effects of main aquatic environmental factors-light, temperature, and water depth-on its growth, with the goal of seeking information that will contribute to its in situ conservation. As the amount of shading increased, biomass, maximum shoot length, number of branches, flowers, and fruits, main stem diameter, and maximum leaf length decreased. Although seed germination occurred under a 12-h photoperiod and at either 30/20°C (day/night) or 20/ 15°C, most plants died at the higher temperature. Survival was 0% for surface-grown plant sets when tested in a wintertime pond experiment. The rate of maximum shoot extension was greatest for plants grown at depths of 50 and 100 cm versus those at 20 cm. Thus, we demonstrated that R. kadzusensis is intolerant of high temperatures and shade, which may explain why its growth is limited to paddies with no shading and where temperatures are low early in the year, before rice cultivation begins.

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Water as an Environment for Plant Life

Cited by 19 publications

References 90 publications

Factors affecting the distribution patterns of aquatic macrophytes

Factors affecting the distribution patterns of aquatic macrophytes

Shallow‐water habitats as sources of fallback foods for hominins

Effects of Light, Temperature, and Water Depth on Growth of a Rare Aquatic Plant, Ranunculus kadzusensis

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