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Response of Vallisneria spinulosa (Hydrocharitaceae) to contrasting nitrogen loadings in controlled lake mesocosms

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Abstract

The role of nitrogen (N) in the shift from a macrophyte-dominated state to a phytoplankton-dominated one at high N concentrations in shallow lakes is still debated. To elucidate possible toxic and ecological effects of high N on macrophyte growth, we conducted a short-term (40 day) study of a eutrophication-tolerant macrophyte, Vallisneria spinulosa (Hydrocharitaceae), incubated in pots in a mesocosm system subjected to different N concentrations (1, 3, and 5 mg l−1). Plant leaf and root length as well as growth rate decreased significantly with increased N concentrations, but most N- and P-related physiological parameters, including the soluble protein content, nitrate reductase activity, acid phosphatase activity, and tissue N and P contents, did not differ significantly among the N treatments. Only the alkaline phosphatase activity differed, being lower at high nitrogen loading, likely due to P limitation. Epiphyton and phytoplankton biomasses increased significantly with increasing N loading. Our results including a large number of physiological tests of the macrophytes, therefore, provide supporting evidence that the loss of submerged macrophytes, like V. spinulosa, seen at high N loading in shallow lakes, can be attributed to competition with phytoplankton and epiphyton rather than to toxic effects.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program (2012BAC06B04), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170340; 31170481; 31460089). SO was supported by SDC (Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research), Aarhus University grant to China activities. EJ and MS were supported by CLEAR (a Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence project) and the MARS project (Managing Aquatic ecosystems and water Resources under multiple Stress) funded under the 7th EU Framework Programme, Theme6 (Environment including Climate Change), Contract No.: 603378 (http://www.mars-project.eu), and CRES. We thank the staff of Wuhan Botanical Garden, Laboratory of Aquatic Plant Biology, in particular Hongsheng Jiang, Yizhi Zhang, Xiangrong Fan, and Xiaoni Qiu, for assistance with the experimental set-up and some physiological parameter analyses. Anne-Mette Poulsen, Yu Cao, and Stephen C. Maberly are acknowledged for linguistic assistance.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Laboratory of Aquatic Plant Biology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

      Suting Zhao, Fengyi Chang & Wei Li

    2. Hainan Key Laboratory for Sustainable Utilization of Tropical Bioresources, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

      Liyan Yin

    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

      Suting Zhao

    4. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, PO Box 314, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

      Saara Olsen, Martin Søndergaard & Erik Jeppesen

    5. Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

      Saara Olsen, Martin Søndergaard, Erik Jeppesen & Wei Li

    6. Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution & Ecological Restoration, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

      Wei Li

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    1. Suting Zhao
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    Correspondence to Wei Li.

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    Handling editor: Katya E. Kovalenko

    Suting Zhao and Liyan Yin have contributed equally to this paper

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    Zhao, S., Yin, L., Chang, F. et al. Response of Vallisneria spinulosa (Hydrocharitaceae) to contrasting nitrogen loadings in controlled lake mesocosms. Hydrobiologia 766, 215–223 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2456-1

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