Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Global diversity of aquatic macrophytes in freshwater

  • FRESHWATER ANIMAL DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aquatic macrophytes are aquatic photosynthetic organisms, large enough to see with the naked eye, that actively grow permanently or periodically submerged below, floating on, or growing up through the water surface. Aquatic macrophytes are represented in seven plant divisions: Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, Xanthophyta, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta. Species composition and distribution of aquatic macrophytes in the more primitive divisions are less well known than for the vascular macrophytes (Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta), which are represented by 33 orders and 88 families with about 2,614 species in c. 412 genera. These c. 2,614 aquatic species of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta evolved from land plants and represent only a small fraction (∼1%) of the total number of vascular plants. Our analysis of the numbers and distribution of vascular macrophytes showed that whilst many species have broad ranges, species diversity is highest in the Neotropics, intermediate in the Oriental, Nearctic and Afrotropics, lower in the Palearctic and Australasia, lower again in the Pacific Oceanic Islands, and lowest in the Antarctic region. About 39% of the c. 412 genera containing aquatic vascular macrophytes are endemic to a single biogeographic region, with 61–64% of all aquatic vascular plant species found in the Afrotropics and Neotropics being endemic to those regions. Aquatic macrophytes play an important role in the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems and certain macrophyte species (e.g., rice) are cultivated for human consumption, yet several of the worst invasive weeds in the world are aquatic plants. Many of the threats to fresh waters (e.g., climate change, eutrophication) will result in reduced macrophyte diversity and will, in turn, threaten the faunal diversity of aquatic ecosystems and favour the establishment of exotic species, at the expense of native species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • APG [Angiosperm Phylogeny Group] II, 2003. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141: 399–436. More recent updates published on the Internet; http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/welcome.html. [Accessed April 11 2007].

    Google Scholar 

  • Arber, A., 1920. Water Plants: A Study of Aquatic Angiosperms. University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beger, H., 1932. Familie Callitrichaceae. In von Kirchner, O., E. Loew & C. Schroter (eds) Lebensgeschichte der Blutenpflanzen Mitteleuropas III: 3. E. Ulnier, Stuttgart.

  • Byers, E. J., K. Cuddington, C. G. Jones, T. S. Talley, A. Hastings, J. G. Lambrinos, J. A. Crooks & W. G. Wilson, 2006. Using ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21: 493–500.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, P. A., & E. E. Prepas, 1994. Nutrient dynamics in riverbeds: the impact of sewage effluent and aquatic macrophytes. Water Research 28: 453–464.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, P. A., R. E. DeWreede, E. A. Irlandi, & H. Vandermeulen, 1999. Management issues in aquatic macrophyte ecology: a Canadian perspective. Canadian Journal of Botany 77: 471–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, R. L., & D. A. Waters, 2002. Green algae and land plants – an answer at last? Journal of Phycology 38: 237–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton, W. D., K.T. Harman & H. Williamson, (2006 onwards). GrassBase – The Online World Grass Flora. http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html. [Accessed February–May 2007].

  • Coffey, B.T., & J. S. Clayton, 1988. New Zealand waterplants: a guide to plants found in New Zealand freshwaters. Raukura Agricultural Centre, Hamilton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, C. D. K., 1983. Aquatic plants endemic to Europe and the Mediterranean. Botanischer Jahrbücher für Systematik. Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 103: 539–582.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, C. D. K., 1985. Range extensions of aquatic vascular plant species. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 23: 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, C. D. K., 1996a. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of India. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, C. D. K., 1996b. Aquatic Plant Book. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, C. D. K., 1999. The number and kinds of embryo-bearing plants which have become aquatic: a survey. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 2/1: 79–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, C. D. K., 2004. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southern Africa. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crow, G. E., 1993. Species diversity in aquatic angiosperms: latitudinal patterns. Aquatic Botany 44: 229–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crow, G. E., & C. B. Hellquist, 2000. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Northeastern North America. Volume 1 Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms: Dicotyledons. Volume 2 Angiosperms: Monocotyledons. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. R., 1859. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. J. Murray, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Candolle, A., 1855. Géographie botanique raisonnée; ou, exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’e´poque actuelle. 2 vols. Victor Masson, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denny, P., 1985. The Ecology and Management of African Wetland Vegetation. W. Junk, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dibble, E. D., K. J. Killgore & S. L. Harrel, 1996. Assessment of fish-plant interactions. In Miranda L. E. & D. R. DeVries (eds), Multidimensional approaches to reservoir fisheries management. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 16, Bethesda, Maryland: 357–372.

  • Dibble, E. D., S. M. Thomaz, & A. A. Padial, 2006. Spatial complexity measured at a multi-scale in three aquatic plant species. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 21: 239–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engelhardt, K. A. M., & M. E. Ritchie, 2001. Effects of macrophyte species richness on wetland ecosystem functioning and services. Nature 411: 687–689.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), 2006. FAOSTAT. Published on the Internet; http://faostat.fao.org/ [Accessed June 22 2007].

  • Feild, T. S., & N. C. Arens, 2007. The ecophysiology of early angiosperms. Plant, Cell and Environment 30: 291–309.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feldmann, T., & P. Nõges, 2007. Factors controlling macrophyte distribution in large, shallow Lake Võrtsjärv. Aquatic Botany 87: 15–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friis, E. M., K. R. Pedersen, & P. R. Crane, 2001. Fossil evidence of water lilies (Nymphaeales) in the Early Cretaceous. Nature 410: 357–360.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Govaerts, R., M. Ruhsam, L. Andersson, E. Robbrecht, D. Bridson, A. Davis, I. Schanzer & B. Sonké, 2007a. World Checklist of Rubiaceae. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.kew.org/wcsp/rubiaceae [Accessed February–May 2007].

  • Govaerts, R., M. Ruhsam, L. Andersson, E. Robbrecht, D. Bridson, A. Davis, I. Schanzer, & B. Sonké, 2007b. World Checklist of Monocotyledons. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.kew.org/wcsp/monocots [Accessed February–May 2007].

  • GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network). 2007. Published on the Internet; http://www.ars-grin.gov/ [Accessed February–May 2007].

  • Halloy, S. R. P., 1981. La presión de anhidrido carbónico como limitante altitudinal de las plantas. Lilloa 35: 159–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halloy, S. R. P., 1983. El límite superior de aridez, límite de vegetación y el problema de los lagos, nevés y glaciares activos en el ‘‘Núcleo Arido’’ de la Cordillera Andina. Actas 1era Reunión Grupo Periglacial Argentino, Mendoza. Anales 83, IANIGLA, 5: 91–108.

  • Halloy S. R. P., A. Seimon K. Yager & A. Tupayachi Herrera, 2005. Multidimensional (climate, biodiversity, socio-economics, agriculture) context of changes in land use in the Vilcanota watershed, Peru. In Spehn E. M., M. Liberman Cruz & C. Kőrner (eds), Land Use Changes and Mountain Biodiversity. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press: 323–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrel, S. L., & E. D. Dibble, 2001. Foraging efficiency of juvenile bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) among different vegetated habitats. Environmental Biology of Fishes 62: 441–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, G. E., 1975. A Treatise on Limnology, Vol. 3. Limnological botany. Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN, 2004. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Published on the internet http://www.iucnredlist.org. [Accessed 15 August 2007] .

  • The International Plant Names Index, 2004. Published on the Internet http://www.ipni.org [Accessed February–May 2007].

  • Irgang B. E. & C. V. S. Gastal Júnior, 2003. Problemas taxonômicos e distribuição geográfica de macrófitas aquáticas do sul do Brasil. In Thomaz, S. M. & L. M. Bini (eds), Ecologia e manejo de macrófitas. Eduem, Maringá: 163–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, D., & E. Terneus, 2001. Aquatic macrophytes in cool aseasonal and seasonal streams: a comparison between Ecuadorian highland and Danish lowland streams. Aquatic Botany 71: 281–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. I., W. Li, & S. C. Maberly, 2003. Area, altitude and aquatic plant diversity. Ecography 26: 411–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, J. T. O., 1996. Light and Photosynthesis in Aquatic Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozhova, O. M., & L. R. Izmestéva, 1998. Lake Baikal: Evolution and Biodiversity. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kühn, F. & G. Rohmeder, 1943. Estudio Fisiográfico de las Sierras de Tucumán. Monografías del Instituto de Estudios Geográficos de la Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, 3, Tucumán.

  • Lachavanne, J. B., 1985. The influence of accelerated eutrophication on the macrophytes of Swiss lakes: abundance and distribution. Verhandlungen Internationale Vereinigung Limnologie 22: 2950–2955.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacoul, P., 2004. Aquatic Macrophyte Distribution in Response to Physical and Chemical Environment of the Lakes Along an Altitudinal Gradient in the Himalayas, Nepal. Ph.D. Thesis. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

  • Lacoul, P., & B. Freedman, 2006a. Relationships between aquatic plants and environmental factors along a steep Himalayan altitudinal gradient. Aquatic Botany 84: 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacoul, P., B. Freedman, 2006b. Recent observation of a proliferation of Ranunculus trichophyllus Chaix. in high-altitude lakes of the Mount Everest region. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 38: 394–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemieux C., C. Otis, & M. Turmel, 2000. Ancestral chloroplast genome in Mesostigma viride reveals an early branch of green plant evolution. Nature 403: 649–652.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Les, D. H., D. J. Crawford, R. T. Kimball, M. L. Moody, & E. Landoltk, 2003. Biogeography of discontinuously distributed hydrophytes: a molecular appraisal of intercontinental disjunctions. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164: 917–932.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maberly, S. C., & T. V. Madsen, 2002. Freshwater angiosperm carbon concentrating mechanisms: processes and patterns. Functional Plant Biology 29: 393–405.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCourt, R. M., C. F. Delwiche, & K. G. Karol, 2004. Charophyte algae and land plant origins. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 661–666.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, E. G., 1974, Autecological studies of three species of Callitriche native in California. Ecological Monographs 44: 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Missouri Botanical Garden, 2007. VAST (VAScular Tropicos) nomenclatural database. Published on the internet http://www.mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html. [Accessed February–May 2007].

  • Mitamura, O., Y. Seike, K. Kondo, N. Goto, K. Anbutsu, T. Akatsuka, M. Kihira, T. Qung, & T.M. Nishimura, 2003. First investigation of ultraoligotrophic alpine Lake Puma Yumco in the pre-Himalayas, China. Limnology 4: 167–175.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, K. J., 2002. Plant communities and plant diversity in softwater lakes of Northern Europe. Aquatic Botany 73: 287–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy K. J., G. Dickinson, S. M. Thomaz, L. M. Bini, K. Dick, K. Greaves, M. Kennedy, S. Livingstone, H. McFerran, J. Milne, J. Oldroyd, & R. Wingfield, 2003. Aquatic plant communities and predictors of diversity in a sub-tropical river floodplain: the Upper Rio Paraná, Brazil. Aquatic Botany 77: 257–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakajima, T., 1994. Lake Biwa. Ergebnisse der Limnologie 44: 43–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, A. I., 1986. The Ecology of Tropical Lakes and Rivers. John Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pieterse A. H., 1990. Introduction (Chapter 1). In Pieterse A. H., & K. J. Murphy (eds), Aquatic Weeds. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK: 3–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pieterse, A. H., & K. J. Murphy. 1993. Aquatic weeds, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pombert, J-F, C. Otis, C. Lemieux, & M. Turmel, 2005. The chloroplast genome sequence of the green alga Pseudendoclonium akinetum (Ulvophyceae) reveals unusual structural features and new insight into the branching order of Chlorophyte lineages. Molecular Biology and Evolution 22: 1903–1918.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Preston, C. D., & J. M. Croft, 1997. Aquatic Plants in Britain and Ireland. Botanical Society of the British Isles, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raven, J. A., L. L. Handley, J. J. MacFarlane, S. McInroy, L. McKenzie, J.H. Richards, & G. Samuelsson, 1988. The role of CO2 uptake by roots and CAM in acquisition of inorganic C by plants of the isoetid life-form: a review with new data on Eriocaulon decangulare L. New Phytologist 108: 125–148.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raven, P. H., & D. I. Axelrod, 1974. Angiosperm biogeography and past continental movements. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 61: 539–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rennie, M. D., & L. J. Jackson, 2005. The influence of habitat complexity on littoral invertebrate distributions: patterns differ in shallow prairie lakes with and without fish. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 62: 2088–2099.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ritter, N. P., 2000. Biodiversity and phytogeography of Bolivia’s wetland flora. Ph.D. thesis, University of New Hampshire, USA (also updates at the Neoaquatica website: http://www.botanize.com/).

  • Rørslett, B., 1991. Principal determinants of aquatic macrophyte richness in northern European lakes. Aquatic Botany 39, 173–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sand-Jensen, K., 1998. Influence of submerged macrophytes on sediment composition and near-bed flow in lowland streams. Freshwater Biology 39: 663–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson, M. J., 2003. Molecular data from 27 proteins do not support a Precambrian origin of land plants. American Journal of Botany 90: 954–956.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Santamaria, L., 2002. Why are most aquatic plants widely distributed? Dispersal, clonal growth and small-scale heterogeneity in a stressful environment. Acta Oecologica 23: 137–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schotsman, H. D., 1954. A taxonomic spectrum of the section Eu-Callitriche in the Netherlands. Acta Botanica Neerlandica 3: 313–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sculthorpe, C. D., 1967. The Biology of Aquatic Vascular Plants. Edward Arnold Publishers, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seimon, A., S. R. P. Halloy, & T. A. Seimon, 2007. Recent observation of a proliferation of Ranunculus trichophyllus Chaix. in high-altitude lakes of the Mount Everest region: Comment. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 39: 340–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tappan, H., 1980. The Paleobiology of Plant Protists. W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turmel, M., C. Otis, & C. Lemieux, 2006. The chloroplast genome sequence of Chara vulgaris sheds new light into the closest green algal relatives of land plants. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23: 1324–1338.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wehr J.D., 2003. Brown algae. In Wehr J.D. & R. G. Sheath (eds), Freshwater Algae of North America. Academic Press, San Diego, USA: 757–773.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, C. H., P. L. Osterloff, & U. Mohiuddin, 2003. Fragments of the earliest land plants. Nature 425: 282–285.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINSc), in particular K. Marten and E. Balian, for the opportunity to participate in a workshop on aquatic biodiversity and the invitation to contribute to this volume. We also thank S. Jubeau, A. Lewin and D. McGoldrick for assistance in assembling data on macrophyte distribution, and Prof. Dr. C. D. K. Cook and Dr. P. Denny for their advice and reviews of an earlier version of this article. S. M. Thomaz is a researcher of the Brazilian Council of Research (CNPq) and acknowledges this agency for long-term funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Blvd, P.O. Box 5050, Burlington, ON, Canada, L7R 4A6

    P. A. Chambers

  2. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, B3H 4J1

    P. Lacoul

  3. Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    K. J. Murphy

  4. Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Nupelia, Maringa, 87020-900, Brazil

    S. M. Thomaz

Authors
  1. P. A. Chambers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. Lacoul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K. J. Murphy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. M. Thomaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. A. Chambers.

Additional information

Guest editors: E. V. Balian, C. Lévêque, H. Segers & K. Martens

Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chambers, P.A., Lacoul, P., Murphy, K.J. et al. Global diversity of aquatic macrophytes in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595, 9–26 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9154-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9154-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation