Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T05:53:51.228Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impact of habitat environment on Potamogeton perfoliatus L. morphology and its within-plant variability in Lake Balaton

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2013

Viktor R. Tóth  and
Ágnes Vári
Viktor R. Tóth*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecological Research, Balaton Limnological Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Klebelsberg K. u. 3, H-8237, Tihany, Hungary
Ágnes Vári
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecological Research, Balaton Limnological Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Klebelsberg K. u. 3, H-8237, Tihany, Hungary
*
*Corresponding author: toth.viktor@okologia.mta.hu
Get access

Abstract

Plastic effect of environmental factors acting on an aquatic submerged plant, Potamogeton perfoliatus L. at the plant-level (nutrient availability) and the leaf-level (light intensity) at different sites in Lake Balaton was studied. Light-dependent morphological traits (foliar morphology and internode length) of P. perfoliatus were measured and analysed across the environmental gradients of the lake. The size of leaves was influenced by both trophic state and light environment: nutrient surplus increased the size of leaves by ∼29%, whereas a more heterogeneous light environment resulted in 15% larger leaves. The light environment influenced shoot morphology (internode length) to a greater extent than nutrient surplus (38% vs. 19%). Contrary to this, within-plant morphological variability was significantly higher (41%) at the nutrient limiting sites as a result of diversification effect of the leaf-level environmental factor, light. Foliar parameters and within-plant variability showed correlation only with the total N content of the sediment. Appearance of P. perfoliatus is shaped by counteracting effects: within-plant differentiation, promoted by leaf-level environmental sensitivity and within-plant homogenization triggered by perception of the surroundings at plant-level. Both light attenuation, stimulating an increase of morphological variability, and nutrient surplus, initiating the stabilization of morphological parameters, could have adaptive advantages. The variability of leaf size leads to diversification of foliar parameters, thus increasing the efficiency of light harvest at low-nutrient sites and making responses to changes in the light environment more dynamic. These results suggest that leaf-level-induced diversification is counteracted by the standardization effect triggered by plant-level environmental factors.

Keywords

Potamogetonwithin-plant variabilitymorphologynutrientlight
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2013 , pp. 149 - 155
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baier, T. and Neuwirth, E., 2007. Excel :: COM :: R. Comput. Stat., 22, 91–108.
Barthélémy, D. and Caraglio, Y., 2007. Plant architecture: a dynamic, multilevel and comprehensive approach to plant form, structure and ontogeny. Ann. Bot., 99, 375–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buzás, I., 1988. Soil- and Agrochemical Methods Manual. Parts 1–2. Mezőgazd. K. Budapest (in Hungarian).
Cenzato, D. and Ganf, G., 2001. A comparison of growth responses between two species of Potamogeton with contrasting canopy architecture. Aquat. Bot., 70, 53–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cronin, G. and Lodge, D.M., 2003. Effects of light and nutrient availability on the growth, allocation, carbon/nitrogen balance, phenolic chemistry, and resistance to herbivory of two freshwater macrophytes. Oecologia, 137, 32–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crossley, M.N., Dennison, W.C., Williams, R.R. and Wearing, A.H., 2002. The interaction of water flow and nutrients on aquatic plant growth. Hydrobiologia, 489, 63–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Csermák, K. and Máté, F., 2004. Soils of Lake Balaton, VE Georgikon Kar, Keszthely, Hungary (in Hungarian).Google Scholar
De Jong, G., 2005. Evolution of phenotypic plasticity: patterns of plasticity and the emergence of ecotypes. New Phytol., 166, 101–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Kroon, H., Huber, H., Stuefer, J.F. and Van Groenendael, J.M., 2005. A modular concept of phenotypic plasticity in plants. New Phytol., 166, 73–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Funk, J.L., Jones, C.G. and Lerdau, M.T., 2007. Leaf- and shoot-level plasticity in response to different nutrient and water availabilities. Tree Physiol., 27, 17–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garbey, C., Thiebaut, G. and Muller, S., 2006. An experimental study of the plastic responses of Ranunculus peltatus Schrank to four environmental parameters. Hydrobiologia, 570, 41–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karban, R., 2008. Plant behaviour and communication. Ecol. Lett., 11, 727–739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Máté, F., 1985. Mapping of recent sediments in Lake Balaton. Annual Report of the Hungarian National Geological Institute, 367–379 (in Hungarian).
Miner, B.G., Sultan, S.E., Morgan, S.G., Padilla, D.K. and Relyea, R.A., 2005. Ecological consequences of phenotypic plasticity. Trends Ecol. Evol., 20, 685–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, K.A. and Wetzel, R.L., 2000. Seasonal variations in eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) responses to nutrient enrichment and reduced light availability in experimental ecosystems. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 244, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orians, C.M. and Jones, C.G., 2001. Plants as resource mosaics: a functional model for predicting patterns of within-plant resource heterogeneity to consumers based on vascular architecture and local environmental variability. Oikos, 94, 493–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orians, C.M., Ardon, M. and Mohammad, B.A., 2002. Vascular architecture and patchy nutrient availability generate within-plant heterogeneity in plant traits important to herbivores. Am. J. Bot., 89, 270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Présing, M., Preston, T., Takátsy, A., Sprőber, P., Kovács, A.W., Vörös, L., Kenesi, G. and Kóbor, I., 2008. Phytoplankton nitrogen demand and the significance of internal and external nitrogen sources in a large shallow lake (Lake Balaton, Hungary). Hydrobiologia, 599, 87–95.Google Scholar
Schlichting, C.D. and Piglucci, M., 1998. Phenotypic evolution: a reaction norm perspective. Sinauer Associates Sunderland, MA.Google Scholar
Sultan, S.E. 2000. Phenotypic plasticity for plant development, function and life history. Trends Plant Sci. 5, 537–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tóth, V.R., Vári, Á. and Luggosi, S., 2011. Morphological and photosynthetic acclimation of Potamogeton perfoliatus to different environments in Lake Balaton. Ocean. Hydrobiol. Stud., 40, 43–51.Google Scholar
Vári, Á., Tóth, V.R. and Csontos, P., 2010. Comparing the morphology of Potamogeton perfoliatus L. along environmental gradients in Lake Balaton (Hungary). Ann. Limnol-Int. J. Lim., 46, 111–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, C.L. and Pigliucci, M., 2000. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity: the case of heterophylly in aquatic plants. Perspect. Plant Ecol., 3, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar