BOTANY WITH BASICS OF HYDROBOTANY (AQUATIC PLANTS OF UKRAINE) - B.Ye. Yakubenko - 2011

I. CONDITIONS FOR THE FORMATION AND GROWTH OF AQUATIC PLANTS

Genesis and Structure of Unconsolidated Substrate Communities

The phytocenoses of unconsolidated substrates in Water body quagmires consist of two structural elements: the base and the unconsolidated substrate proper (the mat). The base is a dense Structure in the form of a small islet where vegetative shoots, seeds, and diaspores of water-borne species become anchored. It may originate from woody debris (small logs, stumps, roots), which serve as a prototype for a substrate of loose deposits; living, dying, or dead rhizomes and reed thickets (the skeletal framework of unconsolidated substrates) formed by common reed (Phragmites australis), lesser bulrush (Typha angustifolia), broadleaf cattail (T. latifolia), lakeshore bulrush (Scirpus lacustris), reed sweet-grass (Glyceria aquatica), sweet flag (Acorus calamus), and others; or from the Tissues of living or dead sedge tussocks, notably: tufted sedge (Carex elata), slender tufted sedge (C. acuta), lesser tussock sedge (C. diandra), elongated sedge (C. elongata), greater pond sedge (C. riparia), and others.

This dense structure is formed exclusively through the participation of aquatic macrophytes. The unconsolidated substrate proper (the mat) serves, in the Cytology/cytology/16.html">Early stages of its development, as the starting point for The formation of the core of a developed quagmire. The mat consists of cellulosic remains of stems, leaves, and roots, whole small plants, accumulated seeds, and sapropel. The mat becomes anchored to the skeletal framework upon which the vegetation develops.

In lakes, the typical type of mat is composed of hydromorphic vegetation debris and small quagmire fragments; in river deltas, it consists of helomorphic vegetation remains; while in other water bodies, it comprises mowed hydro- and helomorphic vegetation along with fragments of thenagophyte communities that have detached from the bottom (needle spikerush (Eleocharis acicularis), waterwort (Elatine hydropiper)).

The Nature of the combination between the base and the mat depends on the type of synechoclines and The amount of material. Small islets coalesce into larger, still-floating masses, forming a fixed aggregate. Several Variants of the origin of unconsolidated substrate synechoclines should be distinguished:

The typical developmental form is the regenerative form, characteristic of the accumulation zone. This involves a gradual spatial equilibration of the main elements, leading to their integration into a single complex. A typical example is The Emergence of communities belonging to the alliance Cicution directly within the sapropelic zone of a lake bay, such as the hornwort (Ceratophyllum) – water soldier (Stratiotes) – water hemlock (Cicuta) complex.

The supplementary form (appositional) is characteristic of the drift zone at the margins of reed beds. This includes the marsh marigold (Calla) – water hemlock (Cicuta) – marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris) complex.

The destructive form is typical of mats at the edges of reed beds or large sedge stands. It arises from the gradual detachment of reeds (during high water levels or strong winds) and fragments of small islets, which then form new arrays where the cowbane (Cicuta virosa) – greater tussock sedge (Carex paniculata) complex develops.