Some aspects of nutrition of Lythrum salicaria

Abstract

In recent decades, big attention is paid to the quality of wetlands. Till now, collected data on adverse pollutant effects on the aquatic macroflora are not sufficient to get ideas about long-term consequences. Land use is accompanied by pollution, in particular due to the use of fertilizers in agriculture. Reminders of unexplored nutrients (N in special), finally are moving from the soil into inland waters. Nutrient assessment could help to understand sensitivity of water ecosystems. Lythrum salicaria is wetland species that is growing naturally along riverbanks in Europe. Due to secondary metabolites this plant is used for medicinal purposes, valuable for ornamental gardening and for apiculture, important indicator of soil salinity. Lythrum salicaria is alien in the United States of America and Canada. Various biological characteristics have been recorded for this species within invasive range of its distribution, but information on ecophysiological parameters is still lacking, especially in the Baltic countries. Our task was to evaluate the differences in leaf N concentration for L. salicaria populations growing in distinct parts of Lithuanian riverbanks. Our study included populations of 7 riparian species sampled in the Nemunas river and sea basins. Three independent batches of whole leaves were dried, powdered, and analyzed by the Kjeldahl method. Nitrogen concentration was expressed as a percentage of dry mass (d. m.). The mean leaf N concentration in L. salicaria populations was 2.98 % d. m. The lowest N concentration (2.35 % d. m.) was recorded in the populations taken on the banks of the Nemunas river, and the highest (3.94 % in d. m.) was observed in the population along the Neris river. The difference between the most contrasting populations was 1.68-fold (p <0.05).[...]