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Adaptation of submerged macrophytes to both water depth and flood intensity as revealed by their mechanical resistance

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Abstract

Little is known about the mechanical resistance response of submerged macrophytes to floods. An experiment was conducted to investigate the plant growth, root anchorage strength, and stem tensile properties of five submerged macrophytes under three initial water levels (1.0, 2.5, and 4.0 m) with four water level fluctuation speeds (0, 5, 15, and 25 cm d−1). Our results demonstrate that the biomass, relative growth rate, root anchorage strength, and stem tensile properties of the five species decreased with increasing initial water level, suggesting that deep water can inhibit plant growth and decrease their mechanical resistance. Floods weakened the stem tensile properties and strengthened the root performances of Myriophyllum spicatum, Hydrilla verticillata, and Potamogeton malaianus in shallow water. However, floods induced opposite mechanical resistance responses from plants in deep water, indicating a possible trade-off between stem breakage and uprooting under flooding conditions. M. spicatum, Ceratophyllum demersum, and P. malaianus were more tolerant of deep water and flood intensity than Potamogeton maackianus and H. verticillata, as indicated by their larger biomass, plant heights, stem tensile properties, and root anchorage strength. This is the first article that mechanically explains the competitive capability and survival potential of submerged macrophytes to water depth and flood intensity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. T. Cao and Dr. J. Xu for the helpful suggestions on this manuscript. We also thank two anonymous native speakers for their kind help to improve the manuscript. This work was funded by the project “Core Technology and Model Project for Environmental and Ecological Improvement of Erhai” (National High Technology Research and Development Program of China, Grant No. 2012ZX07105004, 2008ZX07101-013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystem, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Guorong Zhu, Wei Li & Leyi Ni

  2. Jiangxi Academy of Environmental Sciences, Nanchang, 330029, People’s Republic of China

    Meng Zhang

  3. Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, People’s Republic of China

    Shengrui Wang

  4. Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

    Guorong Zhu & Wei Li

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  1. Guorong Zhu
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  2. Wei Li
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Correspondence to Leyi Ni.

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Zhu, G., Li, W., Zhang, M. et al. Adaptation of submerged macrophytes to both water depth and flood intensity as revealed by their mechanical resistance. Hydrobiologia 696, 77–93 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1185-y

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