The effect of different nutrient concentrations on the growth rate and nitrogen storage of watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.)
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10750_2012_Article_1380.pdf
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Author(s)
Fernandez-Going, Barbara
Even, Thomas
Simpson, Juliet
Date Issued
November 2012
Journal
Hydrobiologia
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Citation
Fernandez-Going, Barbara, Thomas Even, and Juliet Simpson. “The Effect of Different Nutrient Concentrations on the Growth Rate and Nitrogen Storage of Watercress (Nasturtium Officinale R. Br.).” Hydrobiologia 705, no. 1 (November 8, 2012): 63–74.
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Author's final manuscript
Abstract
The mechanisms that allow broadly distributed aquatic plants to inhabit variable resource environments are unclear, yet understanding these mechanisms is important because broad environmental tolerance is often linked to invasiveness in terrestrial and aquatic plants. In an experimental stream, we examined the effects of different nutrient concentrations on the growth rate, biomass, and foliar nutrient concentrations of a cosmopolitan and potentially invasive aquatic plant, Nasturtium officinale (R. Br.). Nasturtium seedlings were grown under six nutrient treatment levels ranging from 0.64 μm N:0.09 μm P to 1531 μm N:204.13 μm P, for 8 weeks. Absolute and relative growth rates, and biomass of seedlings increased along a gradient of increasing nutrient concentrations but the effect of nutrient concentration was dependent on growing time. Seedling biomass varied among nutrient treatments in weeks 4 through 8 of the experiment, but did not differ in week 2. By week 8, the two highest nutrient treatments had greater biomass than the two lowest nutrient treatments. Foliar nitrogen concentration increased, whereas carbon concentration and C:N ratios decreased in response to increasing nutrients. Nasturtium grows slowly in nutrient-poor conditions but rapidly increases its growth, biomass accrual, and nitrogen storage as conditions become nutrient-rich. The response of Nasturtium to enhanced nutrient conditions may indicate how aquatic nuisance species successfully invade and dominate plant communities in streams, where resources often vary both temporally and spatially.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sea Grant College Program
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1380-x
