Distribution and Abundance of Aquatic Plants – Human Impacts

Abstract

The aquatic plant community is a critical habitat and nursery for fish, a source of oxygen for all organisms, a refuge for prey as well as a foraging area for predators, a buffer against erosion and sediment resuspension from both waves and shoreline inputs, and can significantly contribute to overall lake primary productivity. Over the past several decades, losses of or changes in assemblages of native submersed aquatic vegetation has been a reoccurring phenomenon in shallow freshwater systems worldwide, due to a relatively limited number of factors. Repeatedly, human-induced disturbances, as a result of anthropogenic alterations of landscapes and atmospheric conditions, have increasingly affected the ecology of adjacent aquatic systems, including aquatic plant communities. In addition, in-lake aquatic plant management activities have increased due to the increasing spread of invasive exotic plants. In this article, we explore the variety of ways people, through our activities on land and water, both inadvertently and purposefully, affect the distribution and abundance of aquatic plants. We cover several specific mechanisms including: eutrophication, UV, acid rain, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, invasive species introductions, and various purposeful aquatic plant management techniques (chemical, mechanical, biological, and physical).