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The effects of complete submergence on the morphological and biomass allocation response of the invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides

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Abstract

Climate change may lead to more intense and frequent flooding. Alternanthera philoxeroides is a perennial that grows rapidly in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. However, there is a lack of information about whether this species survive or not under flooded conditions, especially when completely submerged. In this study, the effect of submergence at depths of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 m on the growth of A. philoxeroides was investigated. The results showed that submergence decreased the growth of A. philoxeroides but allowed 100% survival. Because of increased shoot length when submerged at the 0.5 m depth for 2 weeks, 62.5% of plants grew above the water. Elongation of shoots and internodes, higher specific leaf area ratio, the leaf weight ratio and stem diameters, development of new leaves (not at depths deeper than 1.0 m), and adventitious roots at all depths were tolerance strategies of A. philoxeroides in response to submergence. These strategies suggest that this species is highly tolerant to flooding even when it is completely submerged at 3.0 m depth. This may contribute greatly to the invasiveness of A. philoxeroides and make it very adaptable to habitats that are heavily disturbed (such as by flooding).

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Natural Science Foundation of China (31170339 and 30930011) and the Special Foundation of National Science and Technology Basic Research (2013FY112300).

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  1. The National Field Station of the Freshwater Ecosystem of Liangzi Lake, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Shufeng Fan, Haihao Yu, Chunhua Liu, Dan Yu, Yuqin Han & Ligong Wang

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  1. Shufeng Fan
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  2. Haihao Yu
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Correspondence to Chunhua Liu or Dan Yu.

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Guest editors: Sidinei M. Thomaz, Katya E. Kovalenko, John E. Havel & Lee B. Kats / Aquatic Invasive Species

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Fan, S., Yu, H., Liu, C. et al. The effects of complete submergence on the morphological and biomass allocation response of the invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides . Hydrobiologia 746, 159–169 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2005-3

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