ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
This article is part of the Research TopicAquatic Macrophytes as Indicators of Ecological Status: Advances and Challenges 25 Years After WFD Adoption.View all articles
Water physicochemical properties shape the distribution of submerged macrophytes: Implications for wetland restoration in Songnen Plain
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Wuhan, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Wuhan, China
- 3University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Submerged macrophytes play a pivotal role in maintaining the clear-water state and enhancing biodiversity in wetland ecosystems. However, the environmental mechanisms underlying their assemblage and biomass patterns remain poorly resolved in continental alkaline wetlands. Here, we conducted a 27 hydrochemical parameters analysis and dissected its relations with the distribution of submerged macrophytes in Momoge wetland of the Songnen Plain, Northeastern China. The results revealed that rock weathering and evaporation-crystallization processes jointly regulated the baseline alkalinity and salinity of the water, thereby determining 62.5% species of submerged macrophytes capable of utilizing HCO3-as an alternative carbon source. In contrast, nutrient inputs and wind-induced resuspension caused fluctuations in physicochemical conditions between light (50 < TLI ≤ 60) and moderate (60 < TLI ≤ 70) eutrophic states, resulting in Potamogeton pectinatus, Najas marina, and Chara spiralis thriving in nutrient-rich, low-transparency waters, whereas Utricularia aurea and Ceratophyllum demersum favored clearer and less nutrient-enriched conditions. These findings highlight a two-tiered environmental control over submerged macrophytes in boreal wetlands, whereby geochemical processes shape species assemblages, and nutrient dynamics and physical disturbance drive biomass allocation. We propose a restoration strategy that combines species configuration and pilot selection, prioritizing HCO₃⁻- utilizing pioneer species in degraded zones to gradually re-establish submerged macrophytes and ecosystem functions.
Keywords: Submerged macrophyte, water physicochemical properties, Biomass distribution, HCO3- utilization, wetland restoration
Received: 30 Sep 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Long, Wang, Lu, Xiao and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Pei Wang, pwang@ihb.ac.cn
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