Functional aspects of Pistia stratiotes, an invasive plant of Al Jawahir (Fez) wadi lentic habitats

Abstract

Excessive growth of invasive alien aquatic plants threatens local ecosystems and has both ecological and economic impacts. This work highlights morphological and functional aspects of Pistia stratiotes L., first reported in Fez in 2012. The total photosynthetic surface of a Pistia plant is highly correlated (R2=0.72) to the product of the length and maximum width of the external leaf. The total biomass of Pistia was highly related (R2=0.71) to plant size and averaged 67.54±26.35 g dw.m-2. Its peak does not necessarily co-occur with flowering and/or high production of stolons. The total nitrogen and phosphorus mineralomasses correspond to 11.46±4.55 kg N.ha-1 and 0.83±0.33 kg P.ha-1. The biomass and mineralomasses of Pistia, estimated under these invasive conditions, ranks it among the least productive Moroccan wetland plants.