Effects of water level changes on the morphological and physiology of the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria natans

Abstract To study the response of the Vallisneria natans morphological and physiology to water level change, seedlings were placed in a submerged condition at depths ranging from 50 cm to 135 cm and set the rising and declining water levels respectively (0.2 cm/d, 0.5 cm/d, 0.8 cm/d, 1.1 cm/d, 1.4 cm/d, 1.7 cm/d). After 50 days of simulation experiment, we observed the effects on plant height, the number of blades, root activity, biomass, chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), chlorophyll (a + b) (Chl a + b), carotenoid (Car), soluble protein (SP) and soluble sugar (SS) of V. natans under different water level change rates. The results showed that (1) plant height and the number of blades showed an overall upward trend under the condition of high-rate water level change, while the low-rate change of water level showed a trend of first rising and then decreasing. (2) the root activity of 0.5–1.7 cm/d groups increased with the test time at rising water level, and the declining water level showed a trend of increasing and then decreasing. The total biomass showed an upward trend with the extension of the test time. (3) Chl a, Chl b, Chl (a + b), and Car showed a multi-peak downward trend with the extension of the test time. (4) the response of SP and SS to the test time showed a trend of first increase and then decrease with water level changes. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the morphological and physiology of V. natans could adapt to water level changes, but it could be stressed if the water level exceeded the suitable range.