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Alleviating versus stimulating effects of bicarbonate on the growth of Vallisneria natans under ammonia stress

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 20, pages 5281–5288 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Bicarbonate plays a crucial role in limiting the growth of submersed aquatic macrophytes in eutrophic lakes, and high ammonia is often toxic to macrophytes. In order to evaluate the combined effect of HCO3 − and total ammonia (i.e., the total of NH3 and NH4 +) on submersed macrophytes Vallisneria natans, the growth and physiological response of V. natans in the presence of HCO3 − and ammonia were studied. The results showed that with the increase of ammonia, morphological parameters of V. natans declined. In contrast, increased HCO3 − concentration stimulated the growth of V. natans, especially when the NH4 +-N/NO3 −-N ratio was 1:7. High ammonia concentration induced excess free amino acids (FAA) accumulation and soluble carbohydrates (SC) depletion in plant tissues. However, the elevated HCO3 − promoted the synthesis of SC and rendered the decrease of FAA/SC ratio. The results also suggested that HCO3 − could partially alleviate the stress of ammonia, as evidenced by the decrease of FAA/SC ratio and the growth enhancement of V. natans when the ammonia concentration was 0.58 mg L−1. Given the fact that HCO3 − is probably the dominant available carbon source in most eutrophic lakes, the ability of V. natans to use HCO3 − for SC synthesis may explain the alleviating effect of HCO3 − on V. natans under ammonia stress.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the Key Special Program for the Pollution Control and Treatment of Water Bodies (2011ZX07303-001) and The National Key Technology R&D Program (2012BAJ25B07).

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Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Daqiang Yin

  2. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210046, China

    Yanyan Dou, Baozhong Wang & Liangyan Chen

  3. Nanjing Environmental Monitoring Center, Nanjing, 210013, China

    Yanyan Dou

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  1. Yanyan Dou
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  2. Baozhong Wang
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  3. Liangyan Chen
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  4. Daqiang Yin
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Correspondence to Daqiang Yin.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Dou, Y., Wang, B., Chen, L. et al. Alleviating versus stimulating effects of bicarbonate on the growth of Vallisneria natans under ammonia stress. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 5281–5288 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1514-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1514-3

Keywords

  • Dissolved inorganic carbon
  • Ammonium
  • Eutrophication
  • Submersed macrophytes
  • Free amino acids
  • Soluble carbohydrates