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CR 66:265-274 (2015)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01352

Heat wave effects on biomass and vegetative growth of macrophytes after long-term adaptation to different temperatures: a mesocosm study

Yu Cao1,2,3,*, Érika M. Neif4, Wei Li1,3,5, Jan Coppens6, Nur Filiz6, Torben L. Lauridsen2,5, Thomas A. Davidson2,7, Martin Søndergaard2, Erik Jeppesen2,5

1Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430074 Wuhan, PR China
2Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, PO Box 314, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark
3Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution and Ecological Restoration, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430074 Wuhan, PR China
4Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Departamento de Biologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aqüicultura (Nupélia), Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Av. Colombo 5790, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
5Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), Beijing, PR China
6Middle East Technical University, Limnology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Universiteler Mahallesi, Dumlupinar Bulvar No. 1, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
7Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: Elevated temperatures and extreme climatic events, such as heat waves, can negatively affect submerged macrophytes. Here, we investigated how submerged macrophytes adapted to 3 different temperatures (ambient, ca. +3°C and ca. +4.5°C) responded to a heat wave. After 10 yr of adaptation, the shoots of 2 species of submerged macrophytes, Elodea canadensis and Potamogeton crispus, were collected from each of the 3 temperature treatments and transferred to 2 heated treatments for 1 mo. The 2 heated treatments were then exposed to a 1 mo heat wave with an additional 5°C temperature increase. For P. crispus, total biomass did not differ among the plants adapted to the different temperatures or between the 2 heated treatments for the duration of the experiment. Plants adapted to the highest temperatures, however, produced a larger number of smaller turions before the heat wave and allocated less biomass to elongation before and after the heat wave. For E. canadensis, the plants adapted to higher temperatures had higher total biomass before and during the heat wave and allocated more biomass to roots and leaves during the heat wave. Most indicators (e.g. length and biomass) of macrophyte performance measured during the experiment did not differ between the 2 heated treatments. In summary, after the 10 yr adaptation to higher temperatures, the submerged macrophytes showed adaptive changes in growth and asexual reproduction and responded in a complex way to the heat wave depending on species, growth status and adaptation temperature.


KEY WORDS: Potamogeton crispus · Elodea canadensis · Heat waves · Extreme events


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Cite this article as: Cao Y, Neif ÉM, Li W, Coppens J and others (2015) Heat wave effects on biomass and vegetative growth of macrophytes after long-term adaptation to different temperatures: a mesocosm study. Clim Res 66:265-274. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01352

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