Changes in phosphorus content of two aquatic macrophytes according to water velocity, trophic status and time period in hardwater streams

Abstract

We examined the influence of water velocity, trophic status, and time period on the phosphorus content of two aquatic macrophytes. We sampled Berula erecta (Huds.) and Callitriche obtusangula (Le Gall.) from 17 oligosaprobic hardwater streams in the Alsatian Rhine floodplain of northeastern France. Sampling was conducted on a monthly basis during a 9-month period from August 1996 to April 1997. For B. erecta, phosphorus content of shoots and roots were correlated to water phosphorus content but not to sediment phosphorus content. The range of phosphorus shoot content of C. obtusangula was similar to that of B. erecta. Phosphorus shoot content of C. obtusangula was not correlated with water and sediment phosphorus content. In one stream where both species were present on the same sampling dates, shoot phosphorus content decreased when water velocity was high, particularly for C. obtusangula. Additionally, a significant effect of time period was observed for both species when the water velocities were low. The effect of water velocity was only significant from spring (April) to autumn (October) when plant phosphorus content was highest.