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Effects of drawdowns and dessication on tubers of hydrilla, an exotic aquatic weed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

R. Michael Smart
Affiliation:
US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility, P.O. Box 446, Lewisville, TX 75056

Abstract

Subterranean turions (tubers) of hydrilla lose viability when desiccated. Experimental data showed that freshly collected tubers had a moisture content between 50 and 60% and more than 90% viability. When desiccated, there was an approximate 2% increase in tuber mortality with each percent decline in moisture content. However under field conditions, the tuber bank within the exposed sediments of a northern Texas reservoir showed no decline in number or tuber viability throughout a 12-mo continuous drawdown. Apparently, the buried tubers were never subject to sufficient dessication to damage them. Finally, an experimental pond with an extensive hydrilla tuber bank was manipulated through six flood/drawdown cycles to determine the effects of short-term drawdowns on tuber survival and quiescence. Initially, the pond had a tuber bank of about 676 and 305 tubers m−2 in the shallow and deep zones, respectively. Although the tuber number was reduced to fewer than 15 to 30 tubers m−2 by these repetitive drawdowns, hydrilla tubers were not eradicated from the pond.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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