Water temperature controls the growth of waterhyacinth and South American sponge plant

We examined the effect of water temperature on the growth of two free-floating aquatic species in this study: waterhyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] and sponge plant [Limnobium laevigatum (Humb. & Bonpl. Ex Willd.) Heine]. Waterhyacinth has been rated as the worst aquatic weed worldw...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of aquatic plant management Vol. 59; pp. 28 - 32
Main Authors Madsen, John D, Morgan, Christy M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Gainesville Aquatic Plant Management Society, Inc 01.01.2021
Subjects
Aquatic plants
Aquatic weeds
Biomass
Density
Dry weight
Experiments
Freshwater
Freshwater plants
Growth rate
Inland water environment
Invasive plants
Plant biomass
Plant growth
Plants
Tanks
Temperature control
Temperature effects
Water tanks
Water temperature
South America
Sacramento California
San Joaquin River Delta
Central America
United States > US
Africa
Mexico
California
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Summary:We examined the effect of water temperature on the growth of two free-floating aquatic species in this study: waterhyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] and sponge plant [Limnobium laevigatum (Humb. & Bonpl. Ex Willd.) Heine]. Waterhyacinth has been rated as the worst aquatic weed worldwide. A native of South and Central America, it is a recurring management issue in tropical and subtropical freshwater bodies in the United States. Sponge plant, native to southern Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, was first detected in California in 2003. We studied the growth of these two species with two 6-wk growth studies (for each species), at water temperatures of 15, 20, 25, and 30 C. All temperatures were replicated in four tanks, for a total of 16 tanks. Waterhyacinth biomass was over 2,000 g dry weight (DW) m-2 for plants grown at 25 and 30 C by 42 d after start (DAS). Waterhyacinth density reached almost 800 rosettes m-2 at 42 DAS at 25 and 30 C. Waterhyacinth relative growth rate (RGR) reached 0.099 d-1, for a doubling time of 7.0 d. Sponge plant biomass at42 DAS was 400 g DW m-2 at 25 and 30 C. Density was as high as 3,900 rosettes m-2 at 42 DAS grown at 25 C. Sponge plant RGR was 0.12 d-1 at 25 C, for a doubling time of 5.7 d. The invasive potential of sponge plant has been demonstrated in this study.
ISSN:0146-6623