Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Elongation and mat formation of Chara aspera under different light and salinity conditions

  • Shallow Lakes
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Former laboratory results indicate that shoot elongation at low light intensities of Chara aspera is absent already at 10 psu which is within the physiologically optimal salinity range for brackish water populations. To investigate if similar restrictions occur in the field, density and morphology of C. aspera were compared between three freshwater and three brackish water sites along its depth range.

The lower depth limit of C. aspera varied considerably among sites (30–600 cm) related to turbidity. Light availability at the lower depth limit corresponded to about 15% of surface irradiance in freshwater and brackish water with lower salinity (3.4 psu). Total length increased and fresh weight:length ratio decreased with depth at these sites indicating shoot elongation related to lower light availability. Due to shoot elongation, light availability was far higher at the upper parts of the shoot than at the bottom in the turbid sites. Light availability at the lower depth limit was higher (about 40%) at two sites with higher salinity (7–8 psu), where no shoot elongation was observed at the lower depth limit. Instead, the plants were stunted and often covered with filamentous algae or shaded by other rooted submerged macrophytes indicating competitive disadvantages of C. aspera at higher salinities.

As growth in high densities (mat formation) exposes the plants to severe self-shading, it is suggested that shoot elongation is a prerequisite to mat formation. Dense vegetation of C. aspera was found only in freshwater and brackish water with lower salinity. Single, richly branched plants occurred in clearwater sites with higher salinity. C. aspera was not found in “double stress” environments with both high turbidity and high salinity: We asume that the species is a poor competitor under these conditions.

Our results indicate that morphological differences between freshwater and brackish water populations of C. aspera are at least partly explained by salinity rather than genetic differences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blindow, I., 1992a. Decline of charophytes during eutrophication: comparison with angiosperms. Freshwater Biology 28: 9–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blindow, I., 1992b. Long- and short-term dynamics of submerged macrophytes in two shallow eutrophic lakes. Freshwater Biology 28: 15–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blindow, I., 2000. Distribution of charophytes along the Swedish coast in relation to salinity and eutrophication. International Reviews in Hydrobiology 85: 707–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blindow, I., J. Dietrich, N. Möllmann & H. Schubert, 2003. Growth, photosynthesis and fertility of Chara aspera under different light and salinity conditions. Aquatic Botany 76: 213–234.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blindow, I., A. Hargeby & G. Andersson, 2002. Seasonal changes of mechanisms maintaining clear water in a shallow lake with abundant Chara vegetation. Aquatic Botany 72: 315–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, P. A. & J. Kalff, 1985. Depth distribution and biomass of submersed aquatic macrophytes communities in relation to Secchi depth. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42: 701–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, P. A. & J. Kalff, 1987. Light and nutrients in the control of aquatic plant community structure. I. In situ experiments. Journal of Ecology 75: 611–619.

    Google Scholar 

  • Croy, C. D., 1982. Chara aspera (Charophyta). Breeding pattern in the northern hemisphere. Phycologia 21: 243–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Domin, A., H. Schubert, J. C. Krause & U. Schiewer, 2004. Modelling of pristine depth limits for macrophyte growth in the southern Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia 514: 29–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargeby, A., G. Andersson, I. Blindow & S. Johansson, 1994. Trophic web structure in a shallow eutrophic lake during a dominance shift from phytoplankton to submerged macrophytes. Hydrobiologia 279/280: 83–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasslow, O. J., 1931. Sveriges characéer. Botaniska Notiser 1931: 63–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamermans, P., M. A. Hemminga & D. J. de Jong, 1999. Significance of salinity and silicon levels for growth of a formerly estuarine eelgrass (Zostera marina) population (Lake Grevelingen, the Netherlands). Marine Biology 133: 527–539.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, G. & K. Torn, 2004. Classification and description of phytobenthic communities in the waters of the West-Estonian Archipelago Sea. Hydrobiologia 514: 151–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, K. A., D. J. Wilcox & R. J. Orth, 2000. Analysis of the abundance of submersed aquatic vegetation communities in the Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 23: 115–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munsterhjelm, R., 2005. Natural succession and human-induced changes in the soft-bottom macrovegetation of shallow brackish bays on the southern coast of Finland. Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation. Scientific Reports No. 26. Helsinki.

  • Olsen, S., 1944. Danish Charophyta. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Biologiske Skrifter, Bind III, Nr. 1. Copenhagen.

  • van den Berg, M., H. Coops, M. -L. Meijer, M. Scheffer & J. Simons, 1998. Clear water associated with a dense Chara vegetation in the shallow and turbid Lake Veluwemeer, The Netherlands. In Jeppesen, E., Ma. Søndergaard, Mo. Søndergaard & K. Christoffersen (eds), The Structuring Role of Submerged Macrophytes in Lakes. Springer, 339–352.

  • Wallström, K. & J. Persson, 1997. Grunda havsvikar i Uppsala Län. Västra Öresundsgrepen. Stencil Nr. 12 (Report). Upplandsstiftelsen, Uppsala, 47 pp (in Swedish).

  • Winter, U. & G. O. Kirst, 1990. Salinity response of a freshwater charophyte, Chara vulgaris. Plant Cell and Environment 13: 123–134.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winter, U. & G. O. Kirst, 1991. Partial turgor pressure regulation in Chara canescens and its implications for a generalized hypothesis of salinity response in charophytes. Botanica Acta 104: 37–46.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winter, U. & G.O. Kirst, 1992. Turgor pressure regulation in Chara aspera (Charophyta): the role of sucrose accumulation in fertile and sterile plants. Phycologia 31: 240–245.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Nils Möllmann for assistance in the field and laboratory and Peter Hansson for diving assistance in Lake Storacksen. The study was financed by the German Research Foundation (DF-G, project no. BL 559/3–1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Station of Hiddensee, University of Greifswald, Biologenweg 15, 18 565, Kloster, Germany

    Irmgard Blindow & Manuela Schütte

Authors
  1. Irmgard Blindow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Manuela Schütte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irmgard Blindow.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Blindow, I., Schütte, M. Elongation and mat formation of Chara aspera under different light and salinity conditions . Hydrobiologia 584, 69–76 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0578-9

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0578-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation