Initial decomposition of floating leaf blades of (S.G. Gmel.) O. Kuntze (Menyanthaceae): causes, impact and succession.

Background: During a study on the outdoor floating leaf blade production of (S.G. Gmel.

Plant traits and environment: floating leaf blade production and turnover of (S.G. Gmel.) O. Kuntze (Menyanthaceae).

Background: Nymphaeid macrophytes, rooting in the sediment of water bodies and characterized by floating leaves, play an important role in wetland ecosystems. The present research deals with the effects of limited space, limited nutrient availability, water temperature and an unexpected inundation on the production, turnover and plasticity of floating leaves of the globally widespread species (Fringed waterlily).

Methods: The effects of these environmental conditions were studied in two plots in outdoor concrete tanks (CT1, CT2, mesocosms simulating occurrence in small ponds) and in two plots in the floodplain oxbow lake Bemmelse Strang (BS1, BS2).

Initial decomposition of floating leaf blades of waterlilies: causes, damage types and impacts.

The initial decomposition of large floating-leaved macrophytes, such as waterlilies, can be studied by following changes in leaf damage and area loss of leaf blades tagged in their natural environment. This approach was taken in the present study to examine the initial decomposition patterns of floating leaf blades of (L.) Sm.

Plant traits and environment: floating leaf blade production and turnover of waterlilies.

Floating leaf blades of waterlilies fulfill several functions in wetland ecosystems by production, decomposition and turnover as well as exchange processes. Production and turnover rates of floating leaf blades of three waterlily species, (L.) Sm.