A field study on the growth and development ofDumontia contorta

Abstract

Young, crustose plants ofDumontia contorta grown in the laboratory from carpospores were transferred in September 1983 to their natural habitat in Lake Grevelingen (SW Netherlands). The number of upright fronds per crust, length of upright fronds, and diameter of crusts were determined monthly until October 1984 and the presence of tetrasporangia was noted. Although fronds were initiated from crusts throughout the period of short daylengths (<13 h light per day, i.e. from September to March), the majority of the fronds was initiated in October and November when short daylengths coincided with optimum temperatures for frond initiation (ca 10–20°C). By April, i.e. within 5–6 months, these plants had reached maximum sizes and had become fertile; subsequently, the plants decayed. The successively smaller numbers of fronds that were formed in December and January also reached maximum sizes after ca 5–6 months, i.e. by May and June, but these fronds remained much smaller than the fronds initiated in October–November, possibly because of lower temperatures and light levels at the start of their growth. It is suggested that the fronds have a fixed maturation period (ca 5–6 months) irrespective of their size and the moment of their initiation. Crusts were shown to “oversummer” and to produce new fronds at the onset of shortday conditions in September 1984.