Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes
Submerged plants in shallow lakes are subject to pulling forces arising from waves, currents and grazing birds. Such forces can cause anchorage failure (mainly dislodgement of the root system) or breaking failure of the stems. Both lead to loss of fitness but uprooting is more damaging because many...
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ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:923 2023-05-15T18:46:09+02:00 Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes Schutten, J. Dainty, J. Davy, A.J. 2005 https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/923/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.00980.x unknown Schutten, J., Dainty, J. and Davy, A.J. (2005) Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes. Journal of Ecology, 93 (3). pp. 556-571. ISSN 0022-0477 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.00980.x Article PeerReviewed 2005 ftuniveastangl https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.00980.x 2023-03-02T23:31:18Z Submerged plants in shallow lakes are subject to pulling forces arising from waves, currents and grazing birds. Such forces can cause anchorage failure (mainly dislodgement of the root system) or breaking failure of the stems. Both lead to loss of fitness but uprooting is more damaging because many perennial species can replace broken shoot systems. We investigated 12 abundant species (Ceratophyllum demersum, Chara sp., Eleogiton fluitans, Elodea canadensis, Myriophyllum spicatum, Najas marina, Potamogeton natans, P. obtusifolius, P. pectinatus, P. pusillus, Utricularia vulgaris and Zannichellia palustris) in 28 shallow lakes in the UK and the Netherlands. We measured the anchorage and breaking strengths of individual plants of different sizes. Anchorage strength depends on the cohesive strength of the sediment and the size of the root system. The undrained shear-strength of sediments in shallow lakes varied more than 50-fold, but all were substantially weaker than terrestrial soils. Anchorage strength was modelled using the product of sediment cohesive strength and four measures of root-system size. A transformation of plan-form area (raising it to the power 2/3) that represented the hemispherical surface area of the root ball was consistently the best predictor of anchorage strength. Breaking strength was a linear function of stem cross-sectional area in all species. Breaking stresses were comparable with those of marine algae and non-lignified terrestrial plants. The results were used, in combination with plant allometric relationships, to predict the fates of four of the species when challenged with the largest waves likely to be encountered in a 10-year period, and the even greater forces exerted by grazing birds. We show that sediment strength and plant size determine whether plants break or uproot. A careful balance between investment in anchorage and in breakage resistance is needed to survive in the fluctuating physical environment of lakes. Pulling forces experienced by aquatic plants are distinct from ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Zannichellia palustris University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository Anchorage Journal of Ecology 93 3 556 571 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftuniveastangl |
language |
unknown |
description |
Submerged plants in shallow lakes are subject to pulling forces arising from waves, currents and grazing birds. Such forces can cause anchorage failure (mainly dislodgement of the root system) or breaking failure of the stems. Both lead to loss of fitness but uprooting is more damaging because many perennial species can replace broken shoot systems. We investigated 12 abundant species (Ceratophyllum demersum, Chara sp., Eleogiton fluitans, Elodea canadensis, Myriophyllum spicatum, Najas marina, Potamogeton natans, P. obtusifolius, P. pectinatus, P. pusillus, Utricularia vulgaris and Zannichellia palustris) in 28 shallow lakes in the UK and the Netherlands. We measured the anchorage and breaking strengths of individual plants of different sizes. Anchorage strength depends on the cohesive strength of the sediment and the size of the root system. The undrained shear-strength of sediments in shallow lakes varied more than 50-fold, but all were substantially weaker than terrestrial soils. Anchorage strength was modelled using the product of sediment cohesive strength and four measures of root-system size. A transformation of plan-form area (raising it to the power 2/3) that represented the hemispherical surface area of the root ball was consistently the best predictor of anchorage strength. Breaking strength was a linear function of stem cross-sectional area in all species. Breaking stresses were comparable with those of marine algae and non-lignified terrestrial plants. The results were used, in combination with plant allometric relationships, to predict the fates of four of the species when challenged with the largest waves likely to be encountered in a 10-year period, and the even greater forces exerted by grazing birds. We show that sediment strength and plant size determine whether plants break or uproot. A careful balance between investment in anchorage and in breakage resistance is needed to survive in the fluctuating physical environment of lakes. Pulling forces experienced by aquatic plants are distinct from ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schutten, J. Dainty, J. Davy, A.J. |
spellingShingle |
Schutten, J. Dainty, J. Davy, A.J. Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
author_facet |
Schutten, J. Dainty, J. Davy, A.J. |
author_sort |
Schutten, J. |
title |
Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
title_short |
Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
title_full |
Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
title_fullStr |
Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
title_sort |
root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/923/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.00980.x |
geographic |
Anchorage |
geographic_facet |
Anchorage |
genre |
Zannichellia palustris |
genre_facet |
Zannichellia palustris |
op_relation |
Schutten, J., Dainty, J. and Davy, A.J. (2005) Root anchorage and its significance for submerged plants in shallow lakes. Journal of Ecology, 93 (3). pp. 556-571. ISSN 0022-0477 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.00980.x |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.00980.x |
container_title |
Journal of Ecology |
container_volume |
93 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
556 |
op_container_end_page |
571 |
_version_ |
1766237596205187072 |