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Response of the floating aquatic fern Azolla filiculoides to elevated CO2, temperature, and phosphorus levels

  • AQUATIC WEEDS
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Abstract

Azolla filiculoides is a floating aquatic fern growing in tropical and temperate freshwater ecosystems. As A. filiculoides has symbiotic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria (Anabaena azollae) within its leaf cavities, it is cultivated in rice paddies to improve N availability and suppress other wetland weeds. To understand how C assimilation and N accumulation in A. filiculoides respond to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (CO2) in combination with P addition and higher temperatures, we conducted pot experiments during the summer of 2007 and 2008. In 2007, we grew A. filiculoides in pots at two treatment levels of added P fertilizer and at two levels of [CO2] (380 ppm for ambient and 680 ppm for elevated [CO2]) in controlled-environment chambers. In 2008, we grew A. filiculoides in four controlled-environment chambers at two [CO2] levels and two temperature levels (34/26°C (day/night) and 29/21°C). We found that biomass and C assimilation by A. filiculoides were significantly increased by elevated [CO2], temperature, and P level (all P < 0.01), with a significant interaction between elevated [CO2] and added P (P < 0.01). Tissue N content was decreased by elevated [CO2] and increased by higher temperature and P level (all P < 0.01). The acetylene reduction assay showed that the N-fixation activity of A. filiculoides was not significantly different under ambient and elevated [CO2] but was significantly stimulated by P addition. N-fixation activity decreased at higher temperatures (34/26°C), indicating that 29/21°C was more suitable for A. azollae growth. Therefore, we conclude that the N accumulation potential of A. filiculoides under future climate warming depends primarily on the temperature change and P availability, and C assimilation should be increased by elevated [CO2].

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research C (No. 19580019) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. We thank Dr. Y. Kishida at Okayama University for providing A. filiculoides inocula.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Kannondai 3-1-3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Weiguo Cheng, Hidemitsu Sakai, Kazuyuki Yagi & Toshihiro Hasegawa

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan

    Weiguo Cheng

  3. Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba, 271-8510, Japan

    Miwa Matsushima

Authors
  1. Weiguo Cheng
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  2. Hidemitsu Sakai
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  3. Miwa Matsushima
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  4. Kazuyuki Yagi
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  5. Toshihiro Hasegawa
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Correspondence to Weiguo Cheng.

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Guest editors: A. Pieterse, S. Hellsten, J. Newman, J. Caffrey, F. Ecke, T. Ferreira, B. Gopal, J. Haury, G. Janauer, T. Kairesalo, A. Kanninen, K. Karttunen, J. Sarvala, K. Szoszkiewicz, H. Toivonen, L. Triest, P. Uotila, N. Willby / Aquatic Invasions and Relation to Environmental Changes: Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Aquatic Weeds, European Weed Research Society

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Cheng, W., Sakai, H., Matsushima, M. et al. Response of the floating aquatic fern Azolla filiculoides to elevated CO2, temperature, and phosphorus levels. Hydrobiologia 656, 5–14 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0441-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0441-2

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