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Effects of light regimes and benthic fish disturbance on the foraging behavior of Vallisneria natans in heterogeneous sediments

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Abstract

In shallow eutrophic lakes, submersed macrophytes are significantly influenced by two main factors: light availability and benthic fish disturbance. Plant foraging is one of the most crucial aspects of plant behavior. The present study was carried out to effects of light regimes and fish disturbance on the foraging behavior of Vallisneria natans in heterogeneous sediments. V. natans was cultivated in heterogeneous sediments with four treatments: high-light regime (H), high-light regime with benthic fish (HF), low-light regime (L), and low-light regime with benthic fish (LF). We use plant trait network analysis to evaluate the relationships between traits in heterogeneous sediments. We found the plant foraging intensity was positively correlated with trait network modularity. The biomass of stem, maternal plant biomass ratio, and ramet number were the hub traits of plant growing in heterogeneous habitats. Although the plant relative growth rate (RGR) was positively correlated with foraging intensity, the hub traits had closer links with plant RGR than foraging intensity. Light regime and benthic fish indirectly affected the plant foraging intensity by changing the chlorophyll a content and pH of overlying water. Overall, our analysis provides valuable insights into plant foraging behavior in response to environmental changes.

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Data availability

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

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Science of Foundation of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2020J01383), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32101406), the Education Department of Fujian Province/Sanming University (JAT190716/B201929), and the Sanming University Scientific Research Foundation for High-level Talent (19YG17, 18YG01, 18YG02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resources and Chemical Engineering, Sanming University, Sanming, 365004, Fujian, China

    Hong Su, Mingfan Li, Chao Wang, Guanbao Fu, Ruijie Le & Gang Sun

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  1. Hong Su
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  2. Mingfan Li
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  3. Chao Wang
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  4. Guanbao Fu
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  5. Ruijie Le
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  6. Gang Sun
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by Guanbao Fu and Ruijie Le and data collection and analysis were performed by Mingfan Li and Chao Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hong Su and Gang Sun and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hong Su.

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Su, H., Li, M., Wang, C. et al. Effects of light regimes and benthic fish disturbance on the foraging behavior of Vallisneria natans in heterogeneous sediments. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 331–342 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31196-y

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