Effects of Complete Submergence on Growth, Survival and Recovery Growth of <i>Alisma orientale</i> (Samuel.) Juz.
Songping Liu,
Jingrui Liu,
Feng Lin,
Libing Liao,
Qian Hu,
Lei Xu,
Ludan Chen,
Te Cao,
Aiwen Zhong
Affiliations
Songping Liu
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Jingrui Liu
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Feng Lin
Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Libing Liao
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Qian Hu
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Lei Xu
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Ludan Chen
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Te Cao
Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China
Aiwen Zhong
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Wetland Plant Resources Conservation and Utilization, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiujiang 332900, China
Intense precipitations caused by global climate change will result in the occurrence of greater frequencies and longer durations of flooding, influencing the survival and yields of wetland plants. Alisma orientale (Samuel.) Juz., an important traditional medicine with edible scape and inflorescence, naturally grows in wetlands and artificially cultivates in paddy fields prone to flood in China. However, we lack understanding of the effect of complete submergence on A. orientale. Here, experiments with four durations of complete submergence including 5 days (ds), 10 ds, 15 ds and 20 ds followed by 20 ds recovery were performed. In the submergence experiments, the number of, length of and biomass of surviving leaves and the total biomass and new blade biomass were measured; in recovery experiments, number and length of surviving leaves were measured. A. orientale grew out longer new leaves during complete submergence, with a dramatic decline in the biomass of both the leaves and tubers as well as the total biomass at the ends of the submergence experiments. The A. orientale plants had a high survival rate after submergence. The duration of submergence did not influence the time for A. orientale needed to start regrowing. At the end of recovery period, the submerged A. orientale plants generated more leaves, had more surviving leaves, had shorter new leaves and a shorter total length of surviving leaves than the control plants. This study highlights that A. orientale plants can resist at least 20 ds of complete submergence caused by flooding and regrow rapidly after submergence and improves our understanding of the flooding tolerance mechanisms of A. orientale plants.
