Amphibious plants, living in land-water ecotones, have to cope with challenging and continuously changing growth conditions in their habitats with respect to nutrient and light availability. They have thus evolved a variety of mechanisms to tolerate and adapt to these changes. Therefore, the study of these plants is a major area of ecophysiology and environmental ecological research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAquatic macrophytes grow abundantly in many lowland streams and play a key role in ecosystem functioning, such as nutrient retention. In this study, we performed a microcosm experiment to quantify and compare the contribution of two freshwater macrophyte growth forms to nutrient cycling. We measured and compared inorganic nitrogen (NH-N and NO-N) and phosphorus (PO-P) uptake kinetic parameters (V and C) in 12 submerged and seven amphibious plant species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite increasing interest in hydrological effects on riverine ecosystems, few studies have documented the impact of hydrology on biofilm community functions, and those existing have typically focused on annual-based hydrological indices. In this study, we conducted monthly samplings during a year in five lowland streams with different flow regimes and investigated the impacts of hydrological conditions and physico-chemical variables on the trait composition of diatoms growing on artificial substrates, biomass (chlorophyll a and ash free dry weight), and biofilm community functions (biochemical processes, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacrophytes have a crucial impact on stream functioning. However, there is a significant gap of knowledge about how hydromorphological fluctuations affect their structural and functional responses in southern Mediterranean streams. In this study, we investigated the impact of hydromorphology on macrophyte stream assemblages in Cyprus and analysed their structural and functional responses.
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