Animal cells and systems

The Korean Society for Integrative Biology (한국통합생물학회)
권호 표지

Nutrient Leaching from Leaf Litter of Emergent Macrophyte(Zizania latifolia) and the Effects of Water Temperature on the Leaching Process

  • Park, Sangkyu (West Sea Fisheries Research Institute, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute) ;
  • Cho, Kang-Hyun (Department of Biological Sciences, College of Sciences, Inha University)
  • Published : 2003.12.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

To quantify nutrient loading from emergent macrophytes through leaching in the littoral zones of Paldang Reservoir, we conducted incubation experiments using leaf litter of the emergent macrophyte, Zizaniz latifolia. To separate the leaching process from microbial decay, we used $HgCl_2$ to suppress microbial activity during the experiment. We measured electric conductivity, absorbance at 280nm, total nitrogen and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, total phosphorus and soluble reactive phosphorus, Na, K, Mg and Ca amounts in leaf litter and in water. In addition, we examined the effects of water temperature and ion concentrations of ambient water on the leaching process. A total of 6% of the initial ash-free dry mass of leaf litter was lost due to leaching during incubation (four days). Electric conductivity and A280 continued to increase and saturate during the incubation. To compare reaching rates of different nutrients, we fitted leaching dynamics with a hyperbolic saturation function [Y=AㆍX/(B+X)]. From these fittings, we found that ratios of leaching amounts to nutrient concentration in the litter were in the order of K > Na > Mg > P > Ca > N. Leaching from leaf litter of Z. latifolia was dependent on water temperature while it was not related with ion concentrations in the ambient water. Our results suggest that the leaching process of nutrients, especially phosphorus, from aquatic macrophytes provides considerable contribution to the eutrophication of the Paldang Reservoir ecosystem.

Keywords

References

  1. AHPA (1989) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 17th Ed. American Public Health Association, Washington
  2. Allen SE, Grimshaw HM, and Rowland AP (1986) Chemical analysis. In: Moore PD and Chapman SB (eds), Methods in Plant Ecology, Blackwell Science Publisher, Oxford, pp 285-344
  3. Attiwill PM (1968) The loss of elements from decomposing litter. Ecology 49: 142-145 https://doi.org/10.2307/1933568
  4. Berg B and Tamm CO (1991) Decomposition and nutrient dynamics of litter in long-term optimum nutrition experiments. Scand J Forest Res 6: 305-321 https://doi.org/10.1080/02827589109382670
  5. Brinson MM, Lugo AE, and Brown S (1981) Primary productivity, decomposition and consumer activity in freshwater wetlands. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 12: 123-161 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.12.110181.001011
  6. Brock TCM (1984) Aspects of the decomposition of Nymphoides peltata (Gmel.) O. Kuntze (Menyanthaceae). Aquat Bot 19: 131-156 https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(84)90013-5
  7. Carpenter SR (1980) Enrichment of Lake Wingra, Wisconsin, by submerged macrophyte decay. Ecology 61: 1145-1155 https://doi.org/10.2307/1936834
  8. Cho KH (1992) Matter Production and Cycles of Nitrogen and Phosphorus by Aquatic Macrophytes in Lake Paltangho. Ph.D. Thesis, Seoul National University, Seoul, pp 1-233
  9. Cho KH and Kim JH (1994) Distribution of aquatic macrophytes in the littoral zone of Lake Paltangho, Korea. Korean J Ecol 17: 435-442
  10. Cho KH, Park SK, and Kim JH (1994) Reactions of macrophytes on sediment and water in the littoral zone of Lake Paltangho. Korean J Limnol 27: 59-67
  11. Davis CB and Van der Valk AG (1978) The decomposition of standing and fallen litter of Typha glauca and Scirpus fluviatilis. Can J Bot 56: 662-675 https://doi.org/10.1139/b78-073
  12. Howard-Williams C and Davies B (1979) The rates of dry matter and nutrient loss from decomposing Potamogeton pectinatus in a brackish south-temperate coastal lake. Freshwater Biol 9: 13-21 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.1979.tb01482.x
  13. Godshalk GL and Wetzel RG (1978) Decomposition of aquatic angiosperms. I. Dissolved components. Aquat Bot 5: 281-300 https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(78)90073-6
  14. Ibrahima A, Joffre R, and Gillon D (1995) Changes in litter during the initial leaching phase: an experiment on the leaf litter of Mediterranean species. Soil Biol Biochem 27: 931-939 https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(95)00006-Z
  15. Kamphake L, Hannah S, and Cohen J (1967) Automated analysis for nitrate by hydrazine reduction. Water Res 1: 205 https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(67)90011-5
  16. McLachlan SM (1971) The rate of nutrient release from grass and dung following immersion in lake water. Hydrobiologia 37: 521-530 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00018817
  17. Otsuki A and Wetzel RG (1974) Release of dissolved organic matter by autolysis of a submersed macrophyte, Scirpus subterminalis. Limnol Oceanogr 19: 842-845 https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1974.19.5.0842
  18. Pellikaan GC and Nienhuis PH (1988) Nutrient uptake and release during growth and decomposition of eelgrass, Zostera marina L., and its effects on the nutrient dynamics of Lake Grevelingen. Aquat Bot 30: 189-214 https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(88)90051-4
  19. Polunin NVC (1982) Processes contributing to the decay of reed (Phragmites australis) litter in fresh water. Arch Hydrobiol 94: 182-209
  20. Polunin NVC (1984) The decomposition of emergent macrophytes in fresh water. Adv Ecol Res 14: 115-166 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2504(08)60170-1
  21. Sommer U (1989) Phytoplankton Ecology: Succession in Plankton Communities. Springer-Verlag, New York
  22. Taylor BR and Parkinson D (1998) Annual differences in quality of leaf litter of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) affecting rates of decomposition. Can J Bot 66: 1940-1947
  23. Vahatalo AV and Sondergaard M (2002) Carbon transfer from detrital leaves of eelgrass (Zostera marina) to bacteria. Aquat Bot 73: 265-273 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3770(02)00037-2
  24. Webster JR and Benfield EF (1986) Vascular plant breakdown in freshwater ecosystems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 17: 567-594 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.17.110186.003031
  25. Westlake OF (1963) Comparison of plant productivity. Bioi Rev 38: 385-425