Aquatic Botany, 35 {1989) 403-408 403

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - - Printed in The Netherlands

Short Communication

T H E I N F L U E N C E OF T E M P E R A T U R E A N D L I G H T I N T E N S I T Y
O N A C T I V I T Y OF W A T E R H Y A C I N T H ( E I C H H O R N I A
C R A S S I P E S (MART.) S O L M S . )

OLGA URBANC-BER(~IC and ALENKA GABERSCIK

In~titut za biologijo Univerze E. Kardelja v Ljubljani, Ljubljani, Slovenija (Yugoslavia)
(Accepted for publication 1 May 1989)

ABSTRACT

Urbanc-Ber~i~, 0. and Gaber~ik, A., 1989. The influence of temperature and light intensity on
activity of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms). Aquat. Bot., 35: 403-408.

Light and temperature determine the length of the vegetative period of Eichhornia crassipes
(Mart.) Solms. in temperate climates. Seasonal changes are followed by changes in plant activity.
During the summer, the photosynthetic activity was 58.3 mg C02 g-1 dry weight (DW) h -1. At
the end of the growth season, the potential photosynthetic activity (at a temperature of 20 ° C )
decreased to 31.2 mg CO2 g-1 DW h -1.
The depression of photosynthetic activity was caused by the decrease in ambient air tempera-
tures. C02 assimilation ceased at leaf-freezing temperature ( - 3 . 5 ° C in August, - 2 . 3 ° C in
October).
Low temperatures also influenced phosphorus (P) uptake by water hyacinth. At ambient tem-
peratures, the decrease of orthophosphate in effluents was 36.96 mg P kg -1 fresh weight (FW)
day- 1 in August and only 1.62 mg P kg- 1 FW day- 1 at the end of the season.

INTRODUCTION

Aquatic plants are being used more and more to improve the quality of ef-
fluents from waste water treatment plants. The potential of Eichhornia cras-
sipes (Mart.) Solms as such an agent is well known, especially in warmer cli-
mates (Wooten, 1976; Dinges, 1978; Kv~t and Zakova, 1984; Fitzsimons and
Vallejos, 1986; Gopal, 1987).
A better understanding of the reaction of the species to inclement conditions
is needed. An experiment was undertaken at the Skofja Loka municipal waste
water treatment plant to determine the potential of E. crassipes in a climate
with long and severe winters.
This paper is a report on the influence of changed environmental conditions
on the photosynthetic activity and phosphorus (P) uptake of water hyacinth
during the second part of the growing season.

0304-3770/89/$03.50 © 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

404

MATERIALSAND METHODS

The water hyacinth, E. crassipes, used in our experiments was obtained from
the pond which has been operating at the municipal waste water treatment
plant in Skofja Loka (46 ° 15'N and 14 o15'E) since 1986.
Measurements of photosynthetic activity were made from 1986 to 1988.

Measurements of photosynthesis

Plants were transferred from the waste water treatment pond to the green-
house a few days before measurements were made. Net photosynthesis of leaves
of the intact plants was measured with an infra red gas analyser (Analytical
Development Co., Ltd., IRGA, Type 225/2, U.K.) using the open system dif-
ferential method described by Sestak et al. ( 1971 ). The COz concentration in
the air was 800/zg l- 1. A "Plexiglass" assimilation chamber was used and the
air flow maintained at~0.8 1 min -1. The relative humidity in the chamber
varied within the range 70-100%.
The measurements were made on five replicate samples. The light response
curve of net photosynthesis was determined in August, September and October
under constant temperature conditions (20+ I°C).
Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) was measured with
an LI-185 Quantum/Radiometer/Photometer (Lambda Instruments Co.,
Lincoln, U.S.A. ). Two 1500-W reflectors were used as the radiation source and
provided a photon flux rate up to 800/zmol m -2 s -1. Varying the distance of
these lights from the plants provided a range below this maximum level.
The temperature dependence of photosynthesis was measured under con-
stant light conditions (500/~mol m -2 s-1). Tissue and air temperatures were
monitored with telethermometers (YSI, Model 44 TZ, Yellow Springs, OH,
U.S.A.). Temperature was regulated in the thermostatic chamber (Gorenje
TGO, Yugoslavia). All measured values were recorded by Mycrocomputer Sys-
tem (MR 800A, In§titut J. Stefan, Yugoslavia).

Freezing point determination

Freezing point was determined by the quick freezing method of Sakai and
Larcher (1987). The temperature in the thermostatic chamber was gradually
lowered and changes in temperature were recorded every 10 s. As soon as ice
crystals formed, the heat of crystallization was set free and the temperature
increased - an exothermic process.
 405

Determination of P uptake

The P uptake of water hyacinth was followed at different day temperatures.

The first experiment was carried out in August (25 °C ), the next late in Sep-
tember (15 ° C) and the last one in October (10 ° C ). For each experiment, the
plants were transferred from the pond to the laboratory. Roots of experimental
plants were rinsed with tap water to avoid errors in the determination of P.
The plants were weighed and put in a plastic tub with secondary effluent (5.0
l) from the waste water plant.
The average ratio of N: P in the effluent was 2.5:1.0 and the concentration
of orthophosphate was 4.70 + 0.68 mg l-1. The experiments were conducted
under ambient conditions. The samples of effluent were collected after 48 h
and analysed for PO4 -3 (American Public Health Association, 1985); 3-6 rep-
licates were carried out.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The rates of CO2 exchange of leaves were determined under various light
and temperature conditions. Figure 1 shows the plants' photosynthetic re-
sponses to light intensity in August, September and October. The initial slopes

¢f
O

Fig. 1. Net photosynthetic activity in relation to light intensity in August (A), September (S)
and October (O). Vertical bars indicate the standard error, n = 5.
406

of each light response curve represent the efficiency of the plant in utilizing
low light intensities (Tsuchiya and Iwaki, 1984).
Values of the light compensation point varied in the range of 30-70 ]tmol
m -2 s- 1. Similar values for minimum light requirement were reported by Wol-
verton and McDonald (1979). In August, net CO2 assimilation was 60 mg CO2
g-1 h-1 or 27 mg CO2 dm -2 h -1.
Values of 20-30 mg CO2 dm -2 were reported for another floating plant, Trapa
natans (Sinha and Sakai, 1974; Tsuchiya and Iwaki, 1984), which thrives in
the Yugoslavian climate. The light response curve shows high light saturation
values. Gopal (1987) reported the light saturation as 1500 ]tmol m -2 s -1 for
E. crassipes. Our measurements showed that in early autumn, photosynthetic
activity decreased by ~ 40% and light saturation occurred at 800 ltmol m - 2 s- 1
Growth ceased when the average day temperature fell below 10°C (Ignjatovi5
and MarjanoviS, 1986; Gopal, 1987). In spite of this, the plants still had high
potential photosynthetic activity at 20 °C and 800 ttg C02 l-1. Actual activity
is much lower, since it is restricted to the part of a day in which solar radiation
and temperatures are adequate. Experiments by Fair and Meeke (1983) showed
that photosynthetic potential may well be influenced by the light history of
the material. This is also revealed by our experiments (Table 1 ).
Figure 2 represents the relationship between temperature and photosyn-
thetic activity. The lower temperature compensation point was reached at the
leaves' freezing point temperature. In August, leaf freezing temperatures were
- 3.5 + 0.3 ° C (n -- 10 ) and in November the values were - 2.3 + 0.1 ° C (n = 20 ).
Our experimental plants showed no adaptations to lower temperatures. The
available data (Sakai and Larcher, 1987 ) indicate that tropical plants are killed
by frost at temperatures from - 1 to - 4 ° C and that the sensitivity to freezing
is permanent. Factors which affect the productivity end photosynthetic activ-
ity of E. crassipes influence nutrient removal as well. The influence of temper-
ature was reported by Gopal (1987). Our experiments, conducted in peak sea-
son (August), showed a reduction of soluble P of almost 37 mg kg -1 [fresh
weight (FW) plant ] d a y - ' (Table 2 ). Maximum uptake of P recorded by Ower

TABLE 1

Monthly changes in solar radiation and air temperature in the second part of the growing season
(Hydrometeorological Institute of SR Slovenia )

July August September October November

Solar radiation (kJ cm -2) 57.47 51.11 34.41 17.18 13.32

Duration of solar radiation (h) 294.7 263.4 176.0 79.0 88.2
Average day temperatures (°C) 22.7 21.4 15.7 11.9 0.9
Maximum day temperatures ( ° C ) 34.0 34.9 27.2 21.8 12.3
Minimum day temperatures ( ° C ) 11.2 10.3 5.4 2.2 - 14.5
 407

•~ = 5O

40 i

i
•- 30

2O

10

0 --

temperature "C

Fig. 2. Net CO2 assimilation in relation to leaf temperature in August ( o - o ) and October ( e - - e ).
Vertical bars indicate the standard error, n = 5.

TABLE 2

Soluble P removal by water hyacinth in August, September and October

Soluble P removal Daily values of Average water

(mg kg -~ FW day -1 ) solar radiation temperature
(kJ cm -2) (°C)

August 36.96 ± 4 . 8 0 ( n - - 6 ) 1.96±0.09 25.0

September 3.58 ± 2.28 ( n-- 3 ) 0.99 ± 0.04 15.0

1.58 ± 0 . 5 5 ( n = 3 ) 0.29 ± 0.01

October 1.62 ± 0.85 (n = 3) 0.50 ± 0.07 10.0

et al. ( 1981 ) was 60 mg k g - 1 FW day- 1, probably due to a better N: P ratio in

their growth medium. In September, P uptake did not reach 10% of the values
obtained in August.
Differences between the summer and winter P uptake in Florida (Reddy and
DeBusk, 1985) were not so obvious in spite of a decrease in ambient temper-
atures to 14 ° C. The main reason could be better light conditions. The effi-
ciency of P uptake at the end of the growing season was very low compared to
that in August.
The period of high biomass production and activity is closely related to high
air temperatures and high solar radiation. During the winter time, water hy-
acinth is unable to thrive in temperate climates. Autochthonous floating plants
have had to develop special ways of surviving under inclement conditions
(Lemnaceae - winter fronds, Trapa sp. - seeds). In order to maintain an ade-
quate inoculum of the water hyacinth for the next growing period, plants have
to be protected either by covering the ponds with "Plexiglass" tunnels or by
transferring plants to the greenhouse.
408

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