Trait-based approaches are widely used in community ecology and invasion biology to unravel underlying mechanisms of vegetation dynamics. Although fundamental trade-offs between specific traits and invasibility are well described among terrestrial plants, little is known about their role and function in aquatic plant species. In this study, we examine the functional differences of aquatic alien...

Aquatic plants are an important component of well functioning lake ecosystems. Plant abundance is influenced by sediments, nutrients and water clarity. Given the dominance of agriculture in Iowa, nutrients and soil lost from “leaky” watersheds combine to create ideal habitat for growth of aquatic plants in lakes and ponds and hasten eutrophication. Under these conditions, plant growth can becom...

Based on long-term rainfall measurements (1956-2012), water level records (1956-2006), and aquatic plants field survey data (1960-2014), the relationship between precipitation and aquatic vegetation succession in east Taihu Lake, China, is studied. Neither abrupt changes nor any trends were found in the annual rainfall series in Taihu Lake during the studied period (1956-2012). However, for sea...

A risk assessment study was conducted to predict the expected hazardous influence on the ecosystem resulted from urbanization and industrialization activities at Helwan area, Egypt. To achieve these goals, soils, plants and water samples were collected from Helwan area, and their total concentrations of inorganic contaminants (Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and organic pollutants; such...

During the last 40 years it has been shown that well planned family-based breeding programs yield high rates of genetic improvement for aquatic species. The genetic gain has been greater than 12% per generation for growth rate and for disease resistance when challenge tests are applied. The main reasons for the large genetic gains observed for aquatic species are their relatively high fertility...

A study was conducted to examine the role of aquatic plants used in constructed wetlands on the survival of enteric bacteria and viruses. Four small-scale wetland systems, receiving fresh water and two other wetland systems, receiving secondary unchlorinated sewage were used in this study. Fresh water and secondary sewage without the presence of any aquatic plants were used as controls. Escheri...