Vegetation of inland waters

390 Pages·1988·9.251 MB·English

by  Robert G. Wetzel (auth.), J. J. Symoens (eds.)

Handbook of vegetation science
FOUNDED BY R. TÜXEN
H. LIETH, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Volume 15/1
Vegetation of inland waters
Vegetation of inland waters
Edited by
J. J. SYMOENS
Kluwer Academic Publishers
DORDRECHT - BOSTON - LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publleation Data
Vegetation of inland waters / J.J. SYloens. editor.
p. CII. -- (Handbook of vegetat i on sc I ence ; pt. 15/1)
Includes index.
ISBN 9061931967
1. Freshwater flora. I. SYlloens. J. J. (Jean-Jacques)
II. Series: Handbook of vegetatlon science ; 15/1.
QK105.V44 1988
581.5·2632--dc19 87-33796
CIP
lSBN-13: 978-94-010-7887-0 e-lSBN-13: 978-94-009-3087-2
DOT: 10.1007/978-94-009-3087-2
Kluwer Aeademie Publishers ineorporates the publishing programmes of
Dr W. Junk Publishers, MTP Press, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, and D. Reidel
Publishing Company.
Distributors
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Norwell, MA 02061, USA
for all other countries: Kluwer Aeademie Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH
Dordreeht, The Netherlands
Copyright
© 1988 by Kluwer Aeademic Publishers, Dordreeht.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this publieation may be reprodueed, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanieal, photoeopying, re
eording, or otherwise, without the prior written perrnission from the copyright owners.
CONTENTS
Series Editor's preface Vll
~~ a
List of Contributors Xlll
Water as an environment for plant life,
by R. G. Wetzel 1
Methods of exploration and analysis of the environment of
aquatic vegetation,
by H. L. Golterman, R. S. Clymo, E. P. H. Best and J. Lauga 31
Photosynthesis of aquatic plants under natural conditions,
by M. S0ndergaard 63
Structural aspects of aquatic plant communities,
by C. den Hartog and G. van der Velde 113
The phytosociological approach to the description and classifi-
cation of aquatic macrophytic vegetation,
by E. P. H. Best 155
Algal communities of continental waters,
by J. J. Symoens, E. Kusel-Fetzmann and J. P. Descy 183
Vegetation processes in swamps and flooded plains,
by C. M. Breen, K. H. Rogers and P. J. Ashton 223
The vegetation of fens in relation to their hydrology and
nutrient dynamics: a case study
by J. T. A. Verhoeven, W. Koerselman and B. Beltman 249
Water flow and the vegetation of running waters,
by F. H. Dawson 283
Analysis of flora and vegetation in rivers: concepts and appli-
cations,
by G. Wiegleb 311
Aquatic plants in extreme environments,
by J. M. Melack 341
Index 379
v
SERIES EDITOR'S PREFACE
By 1988 the Handbook of Vegetation Science is well on its way to
completion. With 7 volumes in circulation, 3 volumes in the press, and
most of the remaining volumes in preparation it appears that the total
task can be completed in the early 'nineties. I am especially thankful to
Professor Symoens for accepting the task of editing the volume on
aquatic vegetation. The main emphasis of work in phytosociology is
devoted to land plants, yet the landscape analysis remains incomplete
without the consideration of rivers and lakes. Avolume on inland
aquatic vegetation must therefore be most helpful to the land vegetation
analyst and not only to the specialist on aquatic vegetation.
Professor Symoens succeeded in drafting the most competent team
for his task. I am sure that all colleagues working in vegetation analysis
will be grateful to them that they have taken the time and energy to
complete their chapters. Handbook articles are not easy to write and
certainly not easy to edit.
The major aquatic components in the landscape are treated. The
vegetation analysts will welcome the fact that certain physiological and
ecological processes of water plants are covered for which otherwise
they would have to consult the limnological literature. This volume,
together with the forthcoming volume on wetlands, should completely
cover the inland aquatic vegetation problematic.
Again I thank all contributors and the editor for this volume. Mr Wil
Peters and the staff of Dr W. Junk Publishers deserve our special
gratitude for their continuous co-operation. It is very gratifying to see
and feel the service Dr W. Junk grants our profession. This was recently
expressed during the editorial board meeting of the journal Vegetatio
held in Berlin on the occasion of the 14th Botanical Congress. On
behalf of the editors of the handbook I can certainly express the same
gratitude.
I expect for this volume the same success as the previous volumes
have had. I expect it to be of help to the professionals in the field as
well as to the research student.
Osnabrück, October 1987 H. LIETH
vii
FOREWORD
Water is life!
It is generally accepted that life on our planet originated in water, even
though it is not possible to state without doubt whether it arose in sea,
estuarine or inland waters. When some living organisms left the aquatic
environment, they retained an aquatic medium within their cells; the
average water content of biomass, terrestrial organisms included, is
about 70% and many species, such as man, can only tolerate a very
limited decrease in their hydration level.
However, the aquatic environment often escapes man's full percep
tion and consequently man's understanding and research effort. Whilst
during the neolithic revolution, man replaced his gathering activities by
cultivating the soil and his hunting activities by raising domesticated
animals, he mostly continued to exploit the aquatic resources by
capturing natural stocks; fishing is but a form of gathering. In spite of
the huge extent of water ecosystems - more than two third s of our
planet - aquaculture, i.e. the culture or farming of aquatic plants and
animals, has lagged far behind agriculture and, even now, is but a
relatively limited source of human food on a worldwide scale; the
application of science and technology to aquaculture is very recent.
Several reasons have been advanced to explain this backward state of
the aquatic sciences: it has been suggested that man, as a terrestrlal
animal, has achieved a better understanding of the life strategies and a
greater mastery of the production mechanisms of terrestrial plants and
anirnals than of the organisms which dwell in an aquatic environment.
This part of the Handbook of Vegetation Science should contribute
to a better understanding of the environmental conditions offered to
plant life by inland waters, of the characteristics and adaptations of the
plants which colonize the latter, and of the structural and functional
features of their plant communities.
Although the general principles of ecology and biocenotics are
cornmon to both aquatic and terrestrial communities, the water en-
lX
x
vironment is less accessible to the observer's eye: it requires specialized
methods and equipment of investigation as soon as the depth goes
beyond a few decimeterso
Although the biochemical pathways of photosynthesis are fundamen
tally the same in water and land plants, the assimilation of carbon
dioxide from several forms of dissolved inorganic carbon is a feature
peculiar to aquatic plant life.
The most important forms of life and growth of aquatic plants were
identified long ago by the analysts of vegetation structure, but a more
detailed analysis of the morphological responses of the plants to the
totality of environmental factors shows the adaptative richness of water
vegetation. It is noteworthy that water, due to its high density, is a very
favourable medium for sustaining plants; submersed plants have no
need to develop a large mechanical structure to provide support and
can thus concentrate their activity in the development of productive
chlorophyll-containing eelIs. This explains the rapid growth of many
aquatic plants. It also explains why aquatic plants can so easily become
troublesome weeds.
The phytosociology of aquatic plant communities - macrophytic or
microphytic - is faced with problems which do not arise in terrestrial
communities. In the aquatic habitat where many macrophytes and most
microphytes are not bound to the soil, the plants may be transported by
water currents and the assemblage present in any given water sample
may consist of populations derived from different habitats and adapted
to respond to substantially different sets of conditions. Several com
munities may occur in the same place as a mixture and should be
treated with a synusial approach.
Two environmental factors peculiar to the aquatic medium play a
decisive role in two types of water habitats: the highly variable hydro
logical regime in the flooded plains and the water current in the
fluviatile habitats.
Some species of water plants are able to colonize extreme aquatic
environments: e.g. autotrophic prokaryotes, the cyanobacteria (most of
them commonly known as blue-green algae), live in waters with tem
·e!
peratures up to 73
All this justifies devoting separate volumes of the Handbook of
Vegetation Science to Aquatic Vegetation; this volume, 15/1 to the
Vegetation of Inland Waters and volume 15/2 will be devoted to the
Wetlands of the World.
We thank the authors of the individual chapters in this volume for
their excellent treatment. There was an unforeseen delay in putting
together all chapters due to the fact that they were written by over
committed specialists who nevertheless agreed to give us the fruits of
their knowledge, their experience and their reflections on perspectives
xi
for future research. The diversity of their approaches contributes to the
richness of this volume, even if they do not hold identical views on
some points. As the editor of this volume, I wish to express once more
my sineere thanks to all of them for their contributions.
J. J. SYMOENS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
P. J. Ashton, National Institute for Water Research, C.S.I.R., P.O. Box
395, Pretoria 0001 (South Africa).
B. Beltman, Department of Plant Ecology, University of Utrecht, Lange
Nieuwstraat 106, 3512 PN Utrecht (The Netherlands).
E. P. H. Best, Centre for Agrobiological Research, P.O. Box 14, 6700
AA Wageningen (The Netherlands).
C. M. Breen, Institute for Natural Resources, University of Natal, P.O.
Box 375, Pietermaritzburg 3200 (South Africa).
R. S. Clymo, School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary College,
University of London, London El 4NS (England).
F. H. Dawson, River Laboratory, Freshwater Biological Association,
East Stoke, Wareham, Dorset BH20 6BB (England).
C. den Hartog, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Catholic University,
Toernooiveld, 6525 ED Nijmegen (The Netherlands).
J. P. Desey, Unite d'Ecologie des Eaux douces, Facultes universitaires
N.-D. de la Paix, rue de Bruxelles 61, B-5000 Namur (Belgium).
H. L. Golterman, Station biologique de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc,
F-13200 Arles (France).
W. Koerselman, Department of Plant Ecology, University of Utrecht,
Lange Nieuwstraat 106, 3512 PN Utrecht (The Netherlands).
E. Kusel-Fetzmann, Institut für Pflanzenphysiologie, Universität Wien,
Althanstrasse 14, A-1091 Wien (Austria).
J. Lauga, Centre d'Ecologie des Ressources renouvelables, Centre
national de la Recherche scientifique, 29, rue Jeanne Marvig,
F-31000 Toulouse (France).
J. M. Melack, Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Science
Institute, U niversity of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106
(U.S.A.).
K. H. Rogers, Botany Department, University of the Witwatersrand, 1
Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg 2001 (South Africa).
J. J. Symoens, Laboratorium voor Algemene Plantkunde en Natuur
beheer, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussel
(Belgium).