Ancient Aquatic Angiosperms Flow from the Fossil Record Donald H

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ancient Aquatic Angiosperms Flow from the Fossil Record Donald H COMMENTARY COMMENTARY Water from the rock: Ancient aquatic angiosperms flow from the fossil record Donald H. Les1 the rapid rise of angiosperms has intrigued Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 paleoecologists and evolutionary biologists, who have strived to elucidate underlying ex- planations for their successful radiation. La- The world of 120 million years ago was one dominant global floristic element, a transfor- mented by Charles Darwin as “an abomina- of dynamic biological processes. During that mative event that ultimately altered the char- ble mystery” (1), the abrupt appearance of time the flowering plants emerged as the acter of the entire planet. Understandably, angiosperms and their sudden burst of diver- sification in the fossil record continues to captivate contemporary plant systematists, who have sought a solution by incorporating massive amounts of DNA sequence data in comparative phylogenetic studies of extant species. However, despite extensive techno- logical advances in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics, which have revolutionized plant research over the past decades, our comprehension of life on earth during such ancient times continues to rely primarily on one data source: the fossil record. In PNAS, Gomez et al. (2) uncover an important clue to Darwin’s mystery by their analyses of Monteschia vidalii,anenigmaticplantfossil from Barremian deposits in Spain. Their re- interpretation of these fossils provides a new perspective that allies Monteschia not only with the angiosperms, but specifically with extant members of the order Ceratophyllales, a group of considerable interest in debates concerning the origin of flowering plants. The characterization of these early plants as highly specialized aquatics also offers novel interpretations regarding the ecological char- acteristics of early angiosperms. Prior ecological interpretations of early Cretaceous environments have been based primarily on terrestrial plant species, which vastly dominate the paleobotanical record. In some fossil floras, aquatic angiosperms do notappearuntilthemiddletolateAlbian stage (3) and these typically depict floating- leaved plants similar in habit to that of the modern order Nymphaeales, which resolves phylogenetically at or near the base of the angiosperm tree of life. Because floating- leaved species are thought to represent an intermediate evolutionary stage between ter- restrial plants and true hydrophytes, one Author contributions: D.H.L. wrote the paper. The author declares no conflict of interest. Fig. 1. Ceratophyllum submersum (shown here) is an extant aquatic species of Ceratophyllales, the order to which See companion article 10.1073/pnas.1509241112. Barremian fossils of M. vidalii have been assigned. 1Email: [email protected]. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1514280112 PNAS Early Edition | 1of2 Downloaded by guest on September 28, 2021 might reasonably conclude that entirely sub- many phylogenetic datasets often results in angiosperms whereas Ceratophyllum plus mersed species did not evolve until later. In- the presentation of results without adequate monocots resolve as a clade (13). Analysis deed, fossils similar to the submersed genus analysis of the characters included. How- of low-copy nuclear genes strongly associates Ceratophyllum (Fig. 1), another ancestral an- ever, more critical evaluation of DNA char- Ceratophyllaceae and Chloranthaceae rather giosperm candidate, first appear in the late acters has reduced confidence in the basal than Piperaceae (14). Moreover, a position of Albian (4). However, an earlier presence of placement of Amborella (9) and has dem- Ceratophyllum (rather than Amborella)asthe hydrophytes was documented by the discov- onstrated that the incorporation of highly angiosperm sister group is maintained in ery of the aquatic angiosperm Archaefructus analyses of xanthine dehdrogenase data (15) from Barremian deposits (5). The contempo- Fossils such as those and selected cpDNA data in large-scale tax- Monteschia rary occurrence of from that same reported for Monteschia onomic analyses (16). Given these inconsist- time period not only indicates an early deri- can only help to unravel encies, it seems premature to simply dismiss vation of the aquatic and submersed habits, other potential candidates such as Cerato- but also that some of the very earliest angio- the evolutionary and phyllales (e.g., Ceratophyllum and its fossil sperms were already well adapted to aquatic ecological events that ally Monteschia) as the sister lineage of an- conditions. Furthermore, by their association Ceratophyllum Monteschia accompanied the rise of giosperms. Certainly, it is clear that a satis- with ,the fossils factory answer to the question of earliest rekindle an interesting question regarding flowering plants to diverging angiosperms cannot be attained theultimateageoftheCeratophyllales. global prominence. until the phylogenetic placements of both Interestingly, the phylogenetic analysis of Amborella and Ceratophyllum have been extant plant DNA sequences initially resolved saturated sites can alter the position of established much more confidently. Ceratophyllum as the sister group of all other Amborella and Ceratophyllum in phyloge- It is important to emphasize that all pro- angiosperms (6), a result hypothesized earlier neticanalyses(10,11).Thefollowingin- by analysis of nonmolecular data (7). How- consistencies are particularly noteworthy. posed schemes of angiosperm relationships ever, the recognition of Ceratophyllum as the Analyses of protein-coding gene sequences represent hypotheses, not facts (17). Al- earliest diverging angiosperm lineage met from chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) data place though they cannot be falsified, these hy- with much skepticism, due in large part to Amborella as the sister to other angio- potheses must be tested further, and not its aquatic habit, which was believed to rep- sperms while placing Ceratophyllum either simply by the exclusive incorporation of resent a highly derived condition evolution- with Piperales or distant from Piperales, molecular data. Furthermore, compara- arily. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic depending on whether different codon po- tive morphological analyses provide the studies also yielded inconsistent placements sitions or amino acid sequences are ana- only practical means of exploring phylo- of Ceratophyllum, which consistently was lyzed (12). Nuclear ribosomal DNA data genetic relationships among long-extinct characterized by a long branch in the anal- also are problematic. Analyses of 18s rDNA plants (18), where no DNA is available yses. As more DNA data were analyzed, it sequences resolve a basal angiosperm grade for molecular analysis. For this reason, the was the terrestrial genus Amborella,notCera- comprising the monocots and Ceratophyllum, continued quest for fossils such as those tophyllum, that most studies resolved as the whereas 26s rDNA place Amborella in that reported for Monteschia can only help to sister group of angiosperms. Consequently, position; combined 18s + 26s sequences yield unravel the evolutionary and ecological despite the lack of a fossil record, the ances- yet another result where Amborella and events that accompanied the rise of flower- tral position of Amborella has become ac- Nymphaeales comprise a sister clade to other ing plants to global prominence. cepted by many as fact and has been used even in the interpretation of genome-scale evolutionary factors (8). However, the un- 1 Darwin F, Seward AC (1903) More letters of Charles Darwin (John phylogenetic placements of Amborella and Ceratophyllum. J Mol usual features shared by Monteschia and Murray, London), Vol 2. Evol 68(3):197–204. Ceratophyllum (e.g., rootlessness, unitegmic 2 Gomez B, Daviero-Gomez V, Coiffard C, Martín-Closas C, 11 Xi Z, Liu L, Rest JS, Davis CC (2014) Coalescent versus Dilcher DL (2015) Montsechia, an ancient aquatic concatenation methods and the placement of Amborella as sister to angiosperm. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112, 10.1073/ ovules, and carpellate pore associated with water lilies. Syst Biol 63(6):919–932. pnas.1509241112. water pollination) indicates that the Cerato- 12 Ruhfel BR, Gitzendanner MA, Soltis PS, Soltis DE, Burleigh JG 3 Wing SL, Boucher LD (1998) Ecological aspects of the (2014) From algae to angiosperms-inferring the phylogeny of phyllales must have diverged from other Cretaceous flowering plant radiation. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci green plants (Viridiplantae) from 360 plastid genomes. BMC Evol flowering plants considerably earlier than 26:379–421. 4 Dilcher DL, Wang H (2009) An Early Cretaceous fruit with affinities Biol 14:23. the Barremian, which suggests that the ques- to Ceratophyllaceae. Am J Bot 96(12):2256–2269. 13 Maia VH, Gitzendanner MA, Soltis PS, Wong GK-S, Soltis DE tion of the most ancestral angiosperm lineage 5 Sun G, et al. (2002) Archaefructaceae, a new basal angiosperm (2014) Angiosperm phylogeny based on 18S/26S rDNA sequence deserves renewed scrutiny. family. Science 296(5569):899–904. data: Constructing a large data set using next-generation sequence 6 Chase MW, et al. (1993) Phylogenetics of seed plants: an analysis data. Int J Plant Sci 175(6):613–650. Two factors complicate the molecular of nucleotide sequences from the plastid gene rbcL. Ann Mo Bot 14 Zeng L, et al. (2014) Resolution of deep angiosperm phylogeny – phylogenetic analysis of ancestral angio- Gard 80(3):528 580. using conserved nuclear genes and estimates of early divergence
Recommended publications
  • Internal Eutrophication: How It Works and What to Do About It – a Review
    Chemistry and Ecology Vol. 22, No. 2, April 2006, 93–111 Internal eutrophication: How it works and what to do about it – a review A. J. P. SMOLDERS*, L. P. M. LAMERS, E. C. H. E. T. LUCASSEN, G. VAN DER VELDE and J. G. M. ROELOFS Department of Ecology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands (Received 18 November 2005; in final form 16 January 2006) In the 1980s and 1990s, it became increasingly clear that changes in external nutrient loads alone could not entirely explain the severe eutrophication of surface waters in the Netherlands. Nowadays, ‘internal eutrophication’ has become a widely accepted term in Dutch water management practice to describe the eutrophication of an ecosystem without additional external input of nutrients (N, P, K). This review surveys the principal mechanisms involved in this process. It also discusses possible remedies to combat internal eutrophication. Keywords: Alkalinity; Anaerobic decomposition; Biomanipulation; Internal eutrophication; Nitrate; Phosphate; Sulphate 1. Introduction In the Netherlands, the term internal eutrophication (‘interne eutrofiëring’ in Dutch) has become popular through publications by Roelofs and co-workers since the late 1980s [1–8]. Most of these publications were written in Dutch and described the eutrophication of surface waters in Dutch peaty lowlands as a result of changes in water quality without additional external supply of nutrients (N, P, K). Their ideas were based on the observation that water quality had deteriorated considerably, even in nature reserves, although in many cases no significant increase had occurred in the external nutrient loads [1, 3, 5].
    [Show full text]
  • Different Reutilization of Mineral Nutrients in Senescent Leaves Of
    Aquatic Botany 119 (2014) 1–6 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Aquatic Botany jou rnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aquabot Different reutilization of mineral nutrients in senescent leaves of aquatic and terrestrial carnivorous Utricularia species ∗ Lubomír Adamec Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Section of Plant Ecology, Dukelská 135, CZ-379 82 Treboˇ n,ˇ Czech Republic a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Nutrient reutilization (recycling) from senescent tissues in aquatic and terrestrial plants is important Received 24 February 2014 especially in nutrient-poor environments. The hypothesis was verified that N and P are reutilized effi- Received in revised form 2 June 2014 ciently from senescent shoots in both aquatic and terrestrial plants, while K is reutilized only in terrestrial Accepted 7 June 2014 plants. The efficiency of N, P and K reutilization in old traps and shoot segments in the submerged carnivo- Available online 16 June 2014 rous plant Utricularia reflexa and the leaves of non-carnivorous Ceratophyllum submersum was compared with that in the leaves of five terrestrial Utricularia species. Oxygen-based dark respiration rates of U. Keywords: reflexa traps, measured as a criterion of physiological activity, exhibited a marked polarity, while a weak Lentibulariaceae respiration polarity of leaves was not significant. No distinct polarity of trap and shoot N contents were Aquatic and terrestrial plants found in U. reflexa shoots. When the correction factor of 0.71 was applied to compensate for the assumed Aerobic dark respiration Shoot polarity dry weight (DW) decrease in old traps and leaf nodes, the mean reutilization efficiency for N was 19% in Senescence traps and 37% in leaf nodes and for P, 67% in traps and 52% in leaf nodes.
    [Show full text]
  • Zooplankton Diversity and Macrophyte Biometry in Shallow Water Bodies of Various Trophic State
    Hydrobiologia (2016) 774:39–51 DOI 10.1007/s10750-015-2595-4 WETLANDS BIODIVERSITY AND PROCESSES Zooplankton diversity and macrophyte biometry in shallow water bodies of various trophic state Natalia Kuczyn´ska-Kippen . Tomasz Joniak Received: 18 September 2015 / Revised: 12 November 2015 / Accepted: 17 November 2015 / Published online: 1 December 2015 Ó The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract In order to determine whether using indi- elimination of macrophyte-dominated refuges, cators of zooplankton diversity and macrophyte thereby lowering the macrophyte-site share, which parameters (density and biomass) could be a useful ranged from 47% in eutrophy, 40% in mesotrophy to tool for diagnosing the water quality of ponds we only 20% in hypereutrophy. Therefore, we assume that hypothesised that in various trophic types of shallow zooplankton diversity and macrophyte occurrence can water bodies parameters of a macrophyte habitat will be used for quality assessment of small water bodies. reflect zooplankton diversity. Thus, 439 stations (open water, helophytes, elodeids) were studied among 274 Keywords Shallow ponds Á Rotifer and crustacean pastoral ponds (mid-west Poland). In each trophic diversity Á Trophic status Á Aquatic plant biomass Á state of waters a key predictor of zooplankton diversity Environmental predictors was biomass of macrophytes attributed to a variety of ecological types or various species of macrophytes. A shift from the high importance of elodeids (e.g. Myriophyllum, Ceratophyllum demersum) in structur- Introduction ing zooplankton diversity in mesotrophic waters to helophytes (Typha angustifolia, Phragmites australis, Ponds, which are considered to be small ecological Schoenoplectus lacustris) in hypereutrophic ponds complexes, form model systems for studying various was recorded.
    [Show full text]
  • Phylogenetic Analyses of Cretaceous Fossils Related to Chloranthaceae and Their Evolutionary Implications
    UC Davis UC Davis Previously Published Works Title Phylogenetic Analyses of Cretaceous Fossils Related to Chloranthaceae and their Evolutionary Implications Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0d58r5r0 Journal Botanical Review, 84(2) ISSN 0006-8101 Authors Doyle, JA Endress, PK Publication Date 2018-06-01 DOI 10.1007/s12229-018-9197-6 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Phylogenetic Analyses of Cretaceous Fossils Related to Chloranthaceae and their Evolutionary Implications James A. Doyle & Peter K. Endress The Botanical Review ISSN 0006-8101 Volume 84 Number 2 Bot. Rev. (2018) 84:156-202 DOI 10.1007/s12229-018-9197-6 1 23 Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by The New York Botanical Garden. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self- archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com”. 1 23 Author's personal copy Bot. Rev. (2018) 84:156–202 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-018-9197-6 Phylogenetic Analyses of Cretaceous Fossils Related to Chloranthaceae and their Evolutionary Implications James A.
    [Show full text]
  • Red List of Vascular Plants of the Czech Republic: 3Rd Edition
    Preslia 84: 631–645, 2012 631 Red List of vascular plants of the Czech Republic: 3rd edition Červený seznam cévnatých rostlin České republiky: třetí vydání Dedicated to the centenary of the Czech Botanical Society (1912–2012) VítGrulich Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ-611 37 Brno, Czech Republic, e-mail: [email protected] Grulich V. (2012): Red List of vascular plants of the Czech Republic: 3rd edition. – Preslia 84: 631–645. The knowledge of the flora of the Czech Republic has substantially improved since the second ver- sion of the national Red List was published, mainly due to large-scale field recording during the last decade and the resulting large national databases. In this paper, an updated Red List is presented and compared with the previous editions of 1979 and 2000. The complete updated Red List consists of 1720 taxa (listed in Electronic Appendix 1), accounting for more then a half (59.2%) of the native flora of the Czech Republic. Of the Red-Listed taxa, 156 (9.1% of the total number on the list) are in the A categories, which include taxa that have vanished from the flora or are not known to occur at present, 471 (27.4%) are classified as critically threatened, 357 (20.8%) as threatened and 356 (20.7%) as endangered. From 1979 to 2000 to 2012, there has been an increase in the total number of taxa included in the Red List (from 1190 to 1627 to 1720) and in most categories, mainly for the following reasons: (i) The continuing human pressure on many natural and semi-natural habitats is reflected in the increased vulnerability or level of threat to many vascular plants; some vulnerable species therefore became endangered, those endangered critically threatened, while species until recently not classified may be included in the Red List as vulnerable or even endangered.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Article (PDF)
    Biologia 64/1: 88—96, 2009 Section Botany DOI: 10.2478/s11756-009-0006-x The epiphytic communities of various ecological types of aquatic vegetation of five pastoral ponds Beata Messyasz1, Natalia Kuczynska-Kippen´ 2 &BarbaraNagengast2 1Department of Hydrobiology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89,PL-61-614 Pozna´n, Poland; e-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Water Protection, Institute of Environmental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89,PL- 61-614 Pozna´n, Poland; e-mail: [email protected] Abstract: Five small water bodies located within the agricultural region of Wielkopolska (west Poland) underwent inves- tigation. Periphyton samples were collected from various macrophyte habitats representing rush vegetation (in five water bodies), submerged aquatic plants (in three) and nymphaeids (in one): Pal˛edzie – Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton crispus, Typha latifolia; Batorowo – Phragmites australis;Piotrowo–Potamogeton natans, Ceratophyllum submersum, Ty- pha latifolia; Tarnowo Podgórne – Typha latifolia;D˛abrówka – Zannichellia palustris, Potamogeton pectinatus, Phragmites australis. The main goal of the study was to determine the composition and abundance of the periphytic communities inhabiting various types of rush and water vegetation of five water bodies located within a mid-field landscape area. Diatoms such as Achnanthidium minutissimum, Amphora ovalis, Cocconeis placentula orNavicula cincta revealed signifi- cantly higher densities in the zone of elodeids, while green algae prevailed among nymphaeids. As a result of this study it was found that the epiphytic algae were characterised by much lower diversity in respect to a specific water body, though much greater diversity was observed in its relation to the type of substratum. Two types of habitats were distinguished – the first of simple build (helophytes and nympheids) and the second containing the complicated architecture of plant stems (elodeids).
    [Show full text]
  • Problems in Creating Lists of Protected Species for Regional Red Data Books: Aquatic Vascular Plants of European Russia and No
    ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Wulfenia Jahr/Year: 2017 Band/Volume: 24 Autor(en)/Author(s): Shcherbakov Andrey V., Lyubeznova Nadezhda V. Artikel/Article: Problems in creating lists of protected species for regional Red Data Books: aquatic vascular plants of European Russia and North Caucasus as case studies 171-192 Wulfenia 24 (2017): 171–192 Mitteilungen des Kärntner Botanikzentrums Klagenfurt Problems in creating lists of protected species for regional Red Data Books: aquatic vascular plants of European Russia and North Caucasus as case studies Andrey V. Shcherbakov & Nadezhda V. Lyubeznova Summary: The Red Data Books are among the major legislative instruments to protect wild plants and animals. Therefore, the clear and comprehensive criteria for the inclusion of the species in the Red Data Books and assigning them to proper conservation categories are of vital importance. IUCN Red Lists are used worldwide for this purpose on global and regional level, but are still not in use in certain countries including Russian Federation due to historical and other reasons. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the pitfalls of the regional red lists and the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation compiled using the old ranking system of protection categories based on subjective ‘expert knowledge’. As a result of this work, the status of 99 protected aquatic and amphibious plant species listed in 80 regional Red Data Books or red lists and the Red Data Book of Russian Federation from 55 regions of the European part of Russian Federation and North Caucasus was revised.
    [Show full text]
  • Ceratophyllaceae, Page 1 of 5 First Published on the Flora Mesoamericana Website, 2 Sep. 2015
    Flora Mesoamericana, Volume 2 (1), Ceratophyllaceae, page 1 of 5 First published on the Flora Mesoamericana Website, 2 Sep. 2015. 52. CERATOPHYLLACEAE By F.R. Barrie. Herbs; perennial; aquatic, submersed; monoecious; aerenchyma present in stems and leaves, glabrous throughout. Roots absent. Stems suspended or anchored to the substrate. Leaves whorled, 3-11 per node, apetiolate, estipulate; blades filiform or two to four or more times dichotomously branched, the ultimate segments linear and finely to coarsely toothed. Flowers solitary, unisexual, actinomorphic, sessile or subsessile, subtended by an involucre of 8 to 15 linear bracts, 1.5 --2 mm; calyx and corolla absent; stamens 3 to numerous, c. 2 mm, 2-locular, longitudinally dehiscent, the connective projecting apically, bearing 2 or more small teeth; ovary 1, superior, 1-locular; ovule 1, pendulous; style 1, terminal, persistent, aciculate or awl-shaped; stigma decurrent within a stylar groove. Fruit an achene, ellipsoid, moderately compressed laterally, the surface smooth to papillose or tuberculate, the margin entire or winged, with or without basal, marginal and apical spines; seed 1, elliptical, without endosperm, the embryo well developed. 1 gen., 6 spp. Cosmopolitan. Bibliography: Les, D.H. Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 2: 246-250 (1993). 1. Ceratophyllum L. Dichotophyllum Moench By F.R. Barrie. Characters as for the family. Ceratophyllum is a genus of submerged aquatic herbs occurring in lakes, ponds, swamps and slow moving streams, found on all continents. It often forms dense vegetative mats. Flowers are submerged at anthesis and pollen is dispersed by water. Flora Mesoamericana, Volume 2 (1), Ceratophyllaceae, page 2 of 5 Duke (1962) suggested that C.
    [Show full text]
  • Aquatic Fungi Growing on Dead Fragments of Submerged Plants Bazyli Czeczugaã, Boz˙Enna Mazalska, Anna Godlewska, Elz˙Bieta Muszyn´ Ska
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector ARTICLE IN PRESS Limnologica 35 (2005) 283–297 www.elsevier.de/limno Aquatic fungi growing on dead fragments of submerged plants Bazyli CzeczugaÃ, Boz˙enna Mazalska, Anna Godlewska, Elz˙bieta Muszyn´ ska Department of General Biology, Medical University, Kilin´skiego 1, 15-089 Bia!ystok, Poland Received23 November 2004; receivedin revisedform 18 April 2005; accepted11 July 2005 Abstract The authors investigatedthe deadfragments of 22 species of submergedplants in the water from three limnological and trophical different water bodies (spring, river and pond). A total of 184 species of aquatic fungi, including 119 zoosporic and65 conidialspecies were foundon the fragments investigatedplants. The most common fungus species were Aphanomyces laevis, Saprolegnia litoralis, Pythium rostratum (zoosporic fungi) and Acrodictys elaeidicola, Anguillospora longissima, Angulospora aquatica, Lemonniera aquatica, Mirandina corticola, Tetracladium marchalia- num, Tetracladium maxiliformis, Trinacrium subtile (conidial fungi). Most fungus species were observedon the specimens of Elodea canadensis (33 fungus species), Hippuris vulgaris f. submersa (33), Myriophyllum spicatum (34) and Potamogeton crispus (33), fewest on Ceratophyllum demersum (24), Fontinalis dalicarlica and Potamogeton nitens (each 25). The most fungi were growing in the water from River Supras´ l (107), the fewest in the water from PondDojlidy (99). Some aquatic fungus species were observedin the water of only one of the three water bodies – in PondDojlidy(30), in Spring Jaroszo ´ wka (32) andin the River Supras ´ l (39) species. Seventy-five species growing only on fragments of single submergedplants. A number of zoosporic andconidialspecies (22 andfour, respectively) appearednew to Polish waters.
    [Show full text]
  • Aquatic Life Screening Values for Aquatic Plants for Evaluating
    Exploration of Methods for Characterizing Effects of Chemical Stressors to Aquatic Plants November 1, 2010 Laura Dobbins1 Michael Lewis2 Sujatha Sankula3 Glen Thursby4 United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) 1 Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC 2 Office of Research and Development, National Health & Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, FL 3 Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Fate and Effects Division, Washington, DC 4 Office of Research and Development, National Health & Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Division, Narragansett, RI Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 4 2. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 4 3. Existing methodologies to evaluate plant effects ............................................................ 6 3.1. 1985 Guidelines Method for Deriving ALWQC (OW) ........................................... 6 3.2. Draft Atrazine Aquatic Life Criteria ........................................................................ 8 3.3. Minnesota Standards for Acetochlor and Metolachlor ............................................ 8 3.4 University of California-Davis Methodology ........................................................... 9 3.5. Ecological Effects Characterization and Benchmark Derivation (OPP) ................
    [Show full text]
  • Carbon Sources Supporting Primary and Secondary Production in A
    1 Main carbon sources supporting primary and secondary production in a 2 disturbed semiarid wetland from central Spain 3 4 Lilia Serrano-Grijalva1*, Raúl Ochoa-Hueso2, Salvador Sanchez-Carrillo1 5 6 1Department of Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology, National Museum of Natural 7 Sciences, MNCN-CSIC, Serrano 115 dpdo, E-28006-Madrid, Spain. 2Department of Biology, 8 University of Cádiz, Avenida República Árabe s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Spain, 3IVAGRO, 9 University of Cádiz, 1510, Puerto Real, Spain 10 11 Abstract words: 269 12 Main text words: 3589 13 Figures: 2 14 Tables: 2 15 References: 54 16 17 *Author for correspondence: [email protected] 18 Abstract 19 Approximately 95% of the total carbon (C) in wetlands is typically found as particulate 20 organic matter (POM). In this study, we evaluated the main C sources of a semiarid 21 floodplain wetland in central Spain under disturbance. For this, we used stable isotopes (13C 22 and 15N) and the Bayesian mixing model SISUS. We show that the allochthonous C derived 23 from wastewater discharges have distinctive δ13C values compared to the C of sites that did 24 not receive wastewater discharges. Wastewater discharges affected the isotopic signatures of 25 dissolved organic carbon as well as δ15N values of primary producers (epiphyton, filamentous 15 26 algae and Scirpus maritimus). δ N values showed a greater response to the effects of 27 environmental degradation. The salt-tolerant marginal tree Tamarix canariensis was the main 28 autochthonous contributor to POM (69 to 84%), while the main source of energy for the 29 secondary production was the submerged macrophyte Ceratophyllum submersum.
    [Show full text]
  • Duckweed Relationships
    The Ecology and Palaeoecology of Diatom – Duckweed Relationships Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University College London by David Emson Department of Geography University College London and Department of Botany Natural History Museum February, 2015 1 I, David Emson confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. David Emson 2 Abstract This thesis focuses on the ecology and palaeoecology of diatom-duckweed relationships and utilises a combined experimental, ecological and palaeoecological approach. In particular, the study sought to determine the potential of the epiphytic diatom Lemnicola hungarica to be utilised as a proxy indicator of past dominance of duckweed (Lemna) in small ponds. To this end, contemporary sampling of epiphytic diatom assemblages from a variety of macrophytes (including multiple samples of free-floating plants) were collected from around the world and analysed for diatom epiphytes. In this study, even despite significant environmental gradients, L. hungarica showed a significant association with free-floating plants (including Lemna spp.) as did Sellaphora seminulum. To determine whether this relationship might be used to infer Lemna- dominance in sediment cores, diatom assemblages were analysed in surface sediments from English Lemna and non-Lemna covered ponds and in a core from a pond (Bodham Rail Pit, eastern England) known to have exhibited periods of Lemna-dominance in the past. In both cases, the data suggested that both L. hungarica and S. seminulum were excellent predictors of past Lemna-dominance. Finally, to infer the consequences of Lemna-dominance for the long-term biological structure and ecosystem function of the Bodham Rail Pit, the sedimentary remains of diatoms, plant pigments, and plant and animal macrofossils were enumerated from two sediment cores.
    [Show full text]