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The influence of light and nutrient availability on floating plant dominance in forested temporary and semipermanent wetlands

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Abstract

Nutrient availability is well documented to control floating plant dominance, but the role of secondary drivers in mediating this relationship is less understood. Light may act as an important secondary driver in aquatic plant communities, particularly with tree canopies in forested wetlands. I explored the dual roles of light and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in affecting abundances of free-floating duckweeds (Lemnoideae and Wolffioideae) in isolated wetlands. I surveyed producers and abiotic conditions in 35 temporary and semipermanent wetlands with differing forest canopy openness in southwest Michigan, USA. Also, I manipulated nutrient supply, light levels, and initial densities of floating plants factorially in outdoor mesocosms. In the survey, duckweeds could dominate wetlands at nearly the entire range of light conditions, and in lower light and higher nitrogen duckweeds dominated frequently. However, emergent and submerged plants only dominated wetlands at high light levels, and duckweed abundances had no clear relationship with nitrogen levels under those conditions. In the experiment, I found a light × nutrient interaction in the initial response of duckweeds, although this pattern dissipated later in the experiment as variability increased. These data suggest that light availability may be an important secondary driver to determine floating plant dominance in forested wetlands.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Many people provided feedback and advice for this study, including C. Cáceres, S. Hall, M. Leibold, G. Mittelbach, D. Schneider, and A. Suarez. C. Kellogg played a crucial role in carrying out the mesocosm experiment. Additional field and laboratory help was provided by M. Allen, C. Cáceres, P. de Tezanos Pinto, A. Golubski, J. Howell, V. Ku, T. McKoy, D. McLennan, M. Pinkowski, E. Randa, T. Robinson, D. Schoolmaster, C. Smith, and P. Woodruff. G. Mittelbach, E. Litchman, P. Woodruff, M. Leibold, M. Martin, S. Hamilton, and N. Consolatti provided logistical support and/or lab equipment and access during data collection. The Parks and Recreation and Wildlife Divisions of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (facilitated by C. Hanaburgh), Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, and R. and A. Burlingham allowed use of field sites. Initial data collection was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) award DEB-0709578, Society of Wetland Scientists, University of Illinois, and KBS (NSF GK-12 Fellowship with DGE-0538509 and G.H. Lauff and Visiting Graduate Student Awards). KBS hosted me during the early part of this work, and this is KBS contribution number 2317. Analysis and writing were supported by Delaware State University.

Funding

Funding was provided by National Science Foundation (Grant No. DEB-0709578) and Society of Wetland Scientists, and W.K. Kellogg Biological Station.

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  1. Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Delaware State University, Dover, DE, USA

    Sigrid D. P. Smith

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Smith, S.D.P. The influence of light and nutrient availability on floating plant dominance in forested temporary and semipermanent wetlands. Hydrobiologia 849, 2595–2608 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-04881-1

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