Proceedings of the 19th IAHR-APD Congress 2014, Hanoi, Vietnam

ISBN 978604821338-1

Biomass and Nutrient stock of lotus(nelubo nucifera) in lake izunuma

S.NAKADA(1), M.UMEDA(2) , T.SHIMADA(3)& Y.FUJIMOTO(4)

(1)
Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan,
nakada@kasen.civil.tohoku.ac.jp
(2)
Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan,
umeda@civil.tohoku.ac.jp
(3)
Miyagi Prefecture Izunuma-Uchinuma environmental conservation foundation, Kurihara, Japan,
tshimada@axel.ocn.ne.jp
(4)
Miyagi Prefecture Izunuma-Uchinuma environmental conservation foundation, Kurihara, Japan,
fjimo@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT
Lake Izunuma is a shallow lake located in the northern part of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, and eutrophication in the lake
is a serious problem. Moreover, lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) has become the dominant species of aquatic macrophyte in the
lake, the coverage area of which community has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Accumulation of fragmented
dead body of the vegetation into the sediment is considered one of the major causes of eutrophication and water quality
deterioration. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the lotus community on the water environment in
Lake Izunuma. Measurements were conducted on the condition of the lotus community and sediment from June-2013 to
March-2014. The storage of nutrients was calculated from the data of the observations (biomass and nutrient content rate
of lotus). In the growing season, lotus appears to have an ability to remove the nutrient load from the lake by saving it in
the stems and leaves mainly. On the other hand, nutrient stock is large in dead body from late autumn to spring. It is
possible that water pollution is caused by decompositon of the dead plant. Nutrient content rate in sediment reduced
because the lotus has absorbed nutrients and carbon content rate in sediment increased because the dead body of lotus
decomposed from summer to winter. Therefore, it is considered lotus community affects the sediment composition.

Keywords: Aquatic macrophyte, Biomass, Nutrient stock, Shallow lake

1. INTRODUCTION

Lake Izunuma is a shallow lake located in the northern

part of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan with a lake surface area
of 2.89km2, the maximum water depth of 1.76m, the
average water depth of 0.76m(Fig. 1). Shape of the lake is
long east-west direction. There are several feeder rivers in
the lake. Arakawa river is main stream and Jyodo river is
feeder river from Lake Uchinuma. On the other hand,
outflow is one place in eastern end of the lake Further,
the water level of the lake is managed by a gate which is
placed at the downstream end.

Wetlands around Lake Izunuma is a habitat of a variety

Figure 1. Ground plan of Lake Izunuma and observation points
of birds and plants, is registered in the Ramsar
Convention as major areas of migratory birds flying.
However, water quality is degraded due to inflow of
has become a dominant species. Futhermore, its
domestic sewage, the effects of food and feces of
population has been expanding in recent years. Area of
waterfowl and so on. Eutrophication of the lake has
lotus community to the area of the lake is expanding
become a problem(Umeda et al., 2011). According to the
rapidly from 23% in 2006 to 44% in 2008(Shikano et al.,
results of the water quality of the lake which is measured
2008).
by the Ministry of the Environment in 2009, the annual
average value of COD is 10mg/l, it become the worst in
Japan. In addition, the result of annual average value of
COD in 2011 and 2012 is 8.8mg/l both, water quality
measures are still not enough. Submerged macrophyte
grew abundantly in Lake Izunuma several decades ago,
but it decreased sharply due to the changes of
environment in the lake(Miyagi Prefecture., 2011).
Lotus(Nelumbo nucifera), which is emergent macrophyte,

1
 Figure 2. Dry weight(DW) of individual part of lotus(leaves, stems, rhizomes, dead body from the top)
Table 1. The number of stems per unit area
2013
Jun Jul Aug
St.1 12 23 5 10
St.2 20 19 10
Lotus pass the winter in tubers(lotus root, rhizome) in
sediment. When it comes to spring, it grow rhizomes from
lotus root, stretched the petiole from the portion of the
clause, expand the leaf on the water surface(Yamamuro,
2010). Aquatic plants take root such as lotus, grow by
absorbing nutrients from sediment mainly(Kuan-Yi et al.,
2010), it is considered that they have a function to soften
the nutrient load to the lake by savings nutrients in the
body(Steffenhagen et al., 2012). Flowers bloom in the
summer, lotus bears a large number of seeds after
flowering. However, the shell of seeds is very hard,
germination in the natural state is rare. When it comes to
autumn, Lotus form a lotus root at the tip of the rhizome
to store nutrients in preparation for the following year. In
addition, the above-ground part of the lotus (leaves,
stems) withered, sank in the water. Dead body of lotus is
deposited for a long time. It is considered lotus contribute
to water purification by absorbing nutrients from the
sediment in the growing season, but it is possible to
promote eutrophication and water quality deterioration of
the lake by accumlation of fragmented dead bodies of
lotus into the sediment. In this study, we have intended to
evaluate the effects of lotus community on the water
environment in Lake Izunuma. We conducted
investigation of lotus in order to understand the situation
of lotus community. In addition, we also conducted
2014
Sep Oct Dec Mar
4 3
10 8 4 2
investigation of sediment affected by the lotus
community.
2. METHOD
Measurements of the lotus community were conducted
from June, 2013 to March, 2014. Observation frequency is
about once a month. However, observation was not
carried out because the surface of the lake freezes from
winter to spring. We took the samples of lotus using the
quadrats(1m1m) at two points(St.1 and St.2, Fig. 1).
Samples were washed away the attached algae and mud,
divided into different parts(leaves, stems, rhizomes and
dead body). After measuring the wet weight, samples
were dried for 2 days at 60 degrees, were measured dry
weight(DW).
Measurements of the sediment were conducted from
2012 to 2014. Samples for measurement of fatty acids were
collected at 12 points(upstream part(A-E), midstream
part(F-I) and the downstream part(J-L), Fig. 1) in August,
2012. After the treatment with One-step method
(Sakdullah et al., 2008), fatty acids in sediment were
measured by gas chromatography GC-2014 (Shimadzu
Co., Ltd.). Samples for measurement of total nitrogen(TN),
total phosphorus(TP) and carbon content were collected at
the same location was taken lotus from 2013 to 2014. For
TN and TP of lotus and sediment, each dry sample of 10-
20mg was added to the decomposition solution of 10ml
which is mixed sodium hydroxide and potassium
peroxodisulfate. After autoclaving for one hour at 121
2
degrees, they were measured by Auto Analyzer
(BLTEC Ltd.). For the carbon content of the sediment,
dry samples of about 30mg were measured by automatic
elemental analyzer (CHNS/O 2400, Perkin Elmer Japan
Co.).
3. RESULTS OF LOTUS OBSERVATIONS
3.1 Biomass
Figure 3. Total phosphorus(TP) and total nitrogen(TN) content rate of individual part of lotus(leaves, stems, rhizomes, dead body from
the top)
Figure 2 is result of dry weight(DW) of individual part of
lotus. DW of leaves and stems increased rapidly from
June(75.6 g DW m-2 at St.1, 82.9 g DW m -2 at St.2) to
July(303.0 g DW m-2 at St.1, 310.3 g DW m-2 at St.2).
However, there is a big flood at the end of July of 2013,
water level of Lake Izunuma reached more than 3 meters.
Most of lotus had died by being covered with water. After
the flood, new lotus has grown in August, but it reduced
compared to July. In addition, flowers bloom in August
usually is not bloom almost, the flowers were not
observed at St.1 and St.2. New lotus grow from
August(116.4 g DW m-2 at St.1, 167.7 g DW m -2 at St.2) to
September(215.9 g DW m-2 at St.1, 222.0 g DW m -2 at St.2),
but it was maximum in July which was observed before
the flood. Since October, new lotus begins to wither. It
reduced(36.8 g DW m-2 at St.1, 171.8 g DW m-2 at St.2) in
October. Leaves completely disappeared in December. For
DW of rhizomes, it is difficult to collect them and it is
unclear whether we collect the entire amount of them in
the quadrats, and so it is reference. For DW of dead body,
it increased in August due to the influence of the flood of
the end of July(275.0 g DW m -2 at St.1, 484.6 g DW m -2 at
St.2). It more increased in October because in addition to
the lotus that withered in the flood, new lotus has died.
Total DW of dead body of St.1 and St.2 is maximum in
October(1306.4 g DW m-2). DW of St.1 decreased from
October to March. On the other hand, DW of St.2 become
maximum in March. In Izunuma, wind is strong from
winter to spring, frequency of wind from the west is
high(Betto et al., 2011). It is possible the DW has increased
because the dead body of lotus were drifted by strong
wind from the west at St.2.
Table 1 is result of the number of stems per unit area. The
number of stems is large and around 20 in July. It reduced
due to the impact of flooding in August. Similarly to the
dry weight, it reduced because new lotus has died from
September to December.
3.2 Total phosphorus(TP) and total nitrogen(TN) content
rate of individual of lotus
Figure 3 is results of total phosphorus(TP) and total
nitrogen(TN) content rate of individual part of lotus. TN
and TP content rate is slightly different by individual part
of lotus, but there was little difference in the two
observation points. TP and TN content rate of leaves,
stems and rhizomes is a decreasing trend from June to
December. Nutrients content rate of leaves are small
decreasing than stems and rhizomes. TN content rate of
leaves in October is much larger than other parts of the
lotus. Lotus saves necessary nutrients for growing in the
period of growth such as in July and June, and so TN and
TP content rate in lotus are high. On the other hand,
growth of lotus stops in the autumn. Nutrients for
growing are no longer required in the leaves and stems. In
addition, lotus form a lotus root at the tip of the rhizome
when it comes to autumn to store nutrients in preparation
for the following year. It is considered lotus root grow by
receiving nutrients from above-ground parts(Suzuki et al.,
2010). Therefore, TN and TP content rate of leave, stems
and rhizomes have become low in autumn and winter. For
3
content rate of nutrients in dead body, there was no
significant seasonal variation. TP content rate is 0.1-0.2
percent, TN content rate is around 1.0 percent in dead
body.
3.3 Nutrient stock
Figure 4. Phosphorus and nitrogen stock in lotus
The storage of phosphorus and nitrogen in lotus was
calculated from the results of biomass and nutrients
content rate of lotus(Fig. 4). As well as dry weight,
nutrient stock of live lotus such as leaves and stems
increased rapidly from June(0.47 g P m-2, 1.71 g N m-2 at
St.1, 0.51 g P m-2, 1.98 g N m-2 at St.2) to July(1.22 g P m-2,
6.08 g N m-2 at St.1, 1.11 g P m-2, 4.51 g N m-2 at St.2).
Nutrient stock was maximum in July which was observed
before the flood. In October, lotus started dying. Biomass
of lotus reduced and nutrient content rate of lotus is also
small in October. Nutrient stock is greatly reduced(0.04 g
P m-2, 0.33 g N m-2 at St.1, 0.21 g P m-2, 1.77 g N m-2 at
St.2). In growing season which is from spring to summer,
it is considered lotus has ability to relieve the nutrient load
to the lake by saving nutrients to parts of the live lotus
mainly. On the other hand, nutrient stock of dead body
increased due to the impact of flooding in August(0.34 g P
m-2, 2.48 g N m-2 at St.1, 0.30 g P m-2, 1.77 g N m-2 at St.2).
Similar to the dry weight, it is maximum in October at
St.1(1.13 g P m-2, 8.20 g N m-2), in March at St.2(0.87 g P m-
2
, 9.10 g N m-2). Nutrients are saved in dead body mainly
from late autumn to spring. It is possible that water
pollution is caused by it is degraded.
4. RESULTS OF SEDIMENT OBSERVATIONS
4.1 Fatty acids in sediment
Figure 5 is result of content rate of fatty acids in
sediment. Percentage of fatty acid derived from higher
plants was the highest in each observation point. Its
average is 31.0 percent. Therefore, it is considered that
dead body of lotus is decomposed, and so it has become
part of the sediment in Lake Izunuma. Percentage of fatty
acids derived from bacteria is the second highest in
sediment. Its average is 14.8 percent. It is considered that
there are many bacteria to decompose the dead body in
sediment.
4.2 Phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon content rate in
sediment
Figure 6 is result of phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon
content rate in sediment. For phosphorus content rate in
sediment, it is not seen significant seasonal variation at
St.2. it decreased from June to October and increased
slightly in December and March as compared to the
October at St.1. For nitrogen content rate in sediment, it
decreased in both observation points from June to October
and significantly increased in December and March as
compared to the October. Nutrients in sediment decreased
because the lotus has absorbed nutrients to grow from the
sediment from June to October. Nutrients in sediment
increased because dead body of lotus is decomposed,
nutrients in dead body had become part of the sediment in
December and March. Carbon content rate in sediment
increased slightly from June to December. Carbon in
sediment increased because organic matter in the
sediment has increased by dead bodies of lotus was
degraded. Therefore, it is considered lotus community
affects the sediment composition. In Lake Izunuma,
seasonal characteristics of sediment resuspension is
determined by the environment of live vegetation and
monsoon, frequency of sediment resuspension is high
from winter to spring(Nakada et al., 2013). Period from
winter to spring nutrients and organic matter content is
high, it is considered that internal load from the sediment
is large compared to the other seasons.
5. CONCLUSIONS
Measurements were conducted on the condition of the
lotus community and sediment to target Lake Izunuma
which is a shallow lake located in the northern part of
Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, and eutrophication has
become a serious problem in the lake.
Biomass of live lotus(leaves and stems) increased rapidly
from June to July. There is a big flood at the end of July of
4
 Figure 5. Content rate of fatty acids in sediment
Figure 6. Phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon content rate in sediment
2013, Most of lotus has died by being covered with water.
In addition, flowers bloom in August usually is not bloom
almost, the flowers were not observed at the two
observation points. Biomass of live lotus was maximum in
July which was observed before the flood. Biomass of
dead body increased in August due to the influence of the
flood of the end of July. It more increased in October
because in addition to the lotus which withered by the
flood, new lotus has died. It decreased from October to
March at St.1. On the other hand, it has become maximum
in March at St.2. For this reason, it is possible dead body
of lotus were drifted by strong wind from the west at St.2.
Total phosphorus(TP) and total nitrogen(TN) content rate
of leaves, stems and rhizomes is a decreasing trend from
June to December. Lotus saves necessary nutrients for
growing in the period of growth such as in July and June,
and so TN and TP content rate in lotus are high. On the
other hand, growth of lotus stops in the autumn.
Nutrients for growing are no longer required in the leaves
and stems. In addition, it is considered lotus root grow by
receiving nutrients from above-ground parts to pass the
winter in autumn. Therefore, TN and TP content rate are
low in autumn. For content rate of nutrients in dead body,
there was no significant seasonal variation.
The storage of nutrients was calculated from the data of
the observations. As well as biomass, nutrient stock of the
live lotus increased rapidly from June to July. It was
maximum in July which was observed before flood. In
October, lotus started dying and biomass is reduced,
nutrient stock of the live lotus decreased. In growing
season which is from spring to summer, it is considered
lotus has ability to relieve the nutrient load to the lake by
saving nutrients in live lotus mainly. On the other hand,
nutrient stock of dead body increased due to the impact of
flooding in August. Similar to the dry weight, nutrients
stock is maximum in October at St.1, in March at St.2.
Nutrients are saved in dead body mainly from late
autumn to spring. It is possible that water pollution is
caused by it is degraded.
Percentage of fatty acid derived from higher plants was
the highest in each observation point. Therefore, it is
considered that dead body of lotus is decomposed, it
become part of the sediment in Lake Izunuma.
Phosphorus and nitrogen in sediment decreased from
June to October. For this reason, it is considered the lotus
has absorbed nutrients to grow from the sediment.
Phosphorus and nitrogen in sediment increased in
December and March as compared to the October by dead
body lotus was degraded. In addition, carbon content rate
in sediment increased slightly from June to December.
Organic matter in the sediment has increased by dead
bodies of lotus was degraded. Therefore, it is considered
5
lotus community affects the sediment composition. In
Lake Izunuma, frequency of sediment resuspension is
high from winter to spring. nutrients and organic matter
content is high from winter to spring, it is considered that
internal load to the lake from the sediment is large
compared to the other seasons.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by the River Fund in charge of
River Foundation, Japan (26-1211-001) and by the JSPS
KAKENHI (2440415).
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