Hydrophytic

Vegetation
Definitions and depth zonation

Survival strategies
Role in the structure and function of wetlands

Hydrophytes
Any macrophyte that grows in water or on a substrate
that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen as a result
of excessive water content; plants typically found in wet
habitats.
drier

wetter

The presence of hydrophytes is one of three elements

comprising the definition of a wetland.
2. Wetland Training Institute 1987. Field Guide for Wetland Delineation, Corps of Engineers
Manual

Evolution of Aquatic Plants

Unlike aquatic microflora, they are not true children of the
water.
Their ancestors came out of the water and were
transformed into aerial organisms, then individual members
of these groups re-adapted to return to the water.

3. Ruttner, Franz 1963. Fundamentals of Limnology, Univ. of Toronto Press. p. 179.

Structural Groups
Free-floating

Emergent

Floating-leaf

Submersed

Structural Groups

Emergents
Plants whose roots and basal
portions grow beneath the
surface of shallow water but
whose leaves and stems are
born primarily in the air.
Examples include bulrush,
cattails, arrowhead, rushes,
sedges, and many shoreline
plants. Depths -0.5m - 1.5m
Image from University of Florida
Aquatic, Wetland and Invasive Plant Information Retrieval System

Structural Groups

Plants whose
leaves float on
the waters
surface but
their roots are
anchored in
the substrate.

Depths 0.5 m - 3 m

Floating-Leaf

Structural Groups

Free Floating
Plants that float with
most of their body
above the waters
surface. Roots, if
present, hang free in
the water. Depths variable

but restricted to nonturbulent,

protected areas.

Water Hyacinth
Image from Univ. of Florida

Structural Groups

Submersed

Plants that spend their

entire life cycle, with
the possible exception
of flowering, beneath
the surface of the
water. Depths to 10 m
Hydrilla

Overview
Part II. Strategies for life under water:
1.

Oxygen exchange

2.

Photosynthesis

3.

Obtaining nutrients

4.

Structural support

Oxygen Exchange
as far as hydrophytes are concerned,
oxygen is a rare and precious commodity.
Agnes Arber, 1920 Water Plants

Oxygen Exchange, continued

Cells in root tissue respire, in terrestrial plants

oxygen is obtained from air spaces in the soil.
Although oxygen may be present in the water column,
respiration by aquatic biota and by soil organisms,
together with slow diffusion of oxygen in water, results
in anoxic conditions in the soil
In obligate anaerobes, anoxia leads to cell
death in 24 hours

Oxygen Suppy Strategies of Vascular Plants, cont.

Structural adaptations
a. Aerenchyma
b. Special organs or responses
i. Adventitious roots
ii. Stem elongation
iii. Lenticels
iv. Pneumatophores
c. Pressurized gas flow
Physiological adaptations
a. Anaerobic respiration
b. Malate production

Adventitious roots

Photo from Rolf Kyburz

Gaussia spirituana (palm growing on coral reef)

Pneumatophores

From www.nhmi.org
Bill Keogh, Photographer

Lenticels

www.pssc.ttu.edu/pss1411cd/PLANTID/ glossary/glossary.htm

Pear tree

Oxygen Exchange

Aerenchyma
Large intercellular
structures (pore
spaces) which
extend throughout
the entire plant and
allow for the
storage and
transport of gas to
the submerged
roots.
aka Lacunae

Image from University of Florida

Aquatic, Wetland and Invasive Plant Information Retrieval System

more on aerenchyma..
Development of aerenchyma in individual
plants stimulated by flooding
Formed by increased cellulase activity (cell
lysis) or cell separation in cortex
Pore space in submerged portions of plant as
high as 60% (compared to 7% in terrestrial
plants)

Jussiaea peruviana (tropical)

A. mud roots (m.r.) and the
adventitous roots (a.r.)
B. Transverse section of
submerged part of a stem to
show aerenchyma (a) which
develops from the phellogen
(pg). Also shown is the
phloem (ph), normal
cambium (c), xylem (xy).

From Arber, Agnes 1920 Water

Plants. Cambridge University
PressWater Plants, p.190.

Oxygen Exchange
Emergent and floating plants obtain
oxygen directly from the atmosphere
through stomata on the leaves.
Passive diffusion of oxygen along a
concentration gradient
Reverse flow due to concentration
gradient of CO2 and CH4
Figure from Brix, H. 1993. Macrophyte-Mediated Oxygen
Transfer in Weltands: Transport Mechanisms and Rates in
Constructed Wetlands for Water Quality Improvement,
Moshiri, ed. p. 393.

Oxygen Exchange
Convective flow of gas in
water lilies. Pressurized
gas transport is induced by
humidity and thermal
gradients.

Figure from Brix, H. 1993. Macrophyte-Mediated Oxygen Transfer in Weltands: Transport Mechanisms
and Rates in Constructed Wetlands for Water Quality Improvement, Moshiri, ed. p. 394.

Responses to Flooding
Flooding
Increased sensitivity
to gibberellic acid
Ethylene
buildup

Cellulase
activity

Petiole cell
elongation

Initiation of
adventitous roots

Increased
aerenchyma

Leaves reach
surface

Ethylene dissipates

Oxygen Exchange

Submersed plants must

obtain dissolved oxygen
from the water.
Leaves have high
surface area to volume
ratio, cuticle is absent

Eurasian watermilfoil
Image from Univ. of Florida

O2

Photosynthesis
Submersed plants have their photosynthetic
maximum at lower light levels (ca. 15% full sun
or less)
Light intensity is believed to be the limiting factor in
determining the maximum depth at which an aquatic
plant can survive (although for rooted plants it could be
gas transport)
Compensation depth - where respiration exactly
equals photosynthesis (species specific)

Photosynthesis
Not all submersed species are
equally adapted to low light:
Elodea densa optimum at 107 lux (0.3% full
sun) whereas Heteranthera dubia optimum at
6350 lux (18%)

Accessory pigments allow for high

variability in spectral preferences :
Elodea densa died under light 480-630 nm
(yellow-green) whereas Heteranthera dubia
grew 3 times greater.

Getting Carbon for

Photosynthesis
Emergents, floating leaved
CO2

CO2 + H2O H2CO3 H+ + HCO3- H+ + CO32-

All submersed

Some submersed
use both

Obtaining
Nutrients

In rooted aquatic plants nutrient absorption is primarily

through the roots.

Obtaining Nutrients

Some foliar uptake

may occur, especially
in waters with high
nutrient
concentrations.

Submersed Plants

Free floating macrophytes

obtain nutrients directly
from the water through
foliar absorption and
through water roots.
The unrooted macroalga
Chara absorbs P equally
well in all parts (Littlefield and
Forsberg 1965)

Image from Univ. of Florida

Chara