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- Title
A split flow chamber with artificial sediment to examine the below-ground microenvironment of aquatic macrophytes.
- Authors
Brodersen, Kasper; Nielsen, Daniel; Ralph, Peter; Kühl, Michael
- Abstract
We present a new experimental set-up enabling fine-scale examination of how changing environmental conditions affect the below-ground biogeochemical microenvironment of aquatic macrophytes. By means of microsensor and planar optode technology, the influence of plant-mediated radial O release on the below-ground chemical microenvironment of Zostera muelleri and Halophila ovalis was determined in high spatio-temporal resolution. The seagrass specimens were cultured in a new split flow chamber with artificial sediment made of a deoxygenated seawater-agar solution with added sulphide. Microelectrode measurements revealed radial O release from the root-shoot junction of both Z. muelleri and H. ovalis during both light stimulation and darkness, resulting in a rapid decrease in HS concentration, and a significant drop in pH was observed within the plant-derived oxic microzone of Z. muelleri. No radial O release was detectable from the below-ground tissue of Z. muelleri during conditions of combined water-column hypoxia and darkness, leaving the plants more susceptible to sulphide invasion. The spatial O heterogeneity within the immediate rhizosphere of Z. muelleri was furthermore determined in two dimensions by means of planar optodes. O images revealed a decrease in the spatial extent of the plant-derived oxic microzone surrounding the below-ground tissue during darkness, supporting the microelectrode measurements. This new experimental approach can be applied to all rooted aquatic plants, as it allows for direct visual assessment of the below-ground tissue surface during microprofiling, while enabling modification of the above-ground environmental conditions.
- Subjects
SEDIMENTS; MACROPHYTES; BIOGEOCHEMICAL cycles; HALOPHILA ovalis; ZOSTERA; SEAGRASSES
- Publication
Marine Biology, 2014, Vol 161, Issue 12, p2921
- ISSN
0025-3162
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00227-014-2542-3