Ecology of Elodea canadensis Michx. and Elodea nuttallii (Planch.) H. St. John-Insights from National Water Monitoring in Croatia

• Published in: Plants (Basel) 2024-06, Vol.13 (12), p.1624
• Main Authors: Bučar, Marija, Rimac, Anja, Šegota, Vedran, Vuković, Nina, Alegro, Antun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic plants; Biochemical oxygen demand; Canals; Croatia; Ecology; ecoregions; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Elodea; Elodea canadensis; Elodea nuttallii; Flow velocity; freshwater habitat; Geographical distribution; Habitats; Indicator species; Invasive plants; Invasive species; macrophytes; Monitoring; North America; Nutrient loading; Preferences; Rivers; Sampling; Southeastern Europe; species; species abundance; total phosphorus; vegetation; Water; Water management; Water monitoring
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants13121624

Michx. (common waterweed) and (Planch.) H. St. John (Nuttall's waterweed), two invasive aquatic plants from North America, have coexisted in European water bodies since the early 20th century. New localities for both species in Croatia continued to be discovered during a study that ran from 2016 to 2023 as a part of the annual implementation of Water Framework Directive monitoring that covered the entire territory of Croatia (786 sampling points in total). Based on these data, the distribution and ecology of both species were analysed. was found at 30 sampling points, mostly in rivers, and at 15 sampling points, mostly in artificial canals. Nearly three-quarters (72.5%) of all elodea sampling points were in the Pannonian Ecoregion. was discovered for the first time in the Continental-Dinaric and Mediterranean-Dinaric Subecoregions. To study the ecology of the species, for each sampling point, vegetation relevés were performed and monthly measurements of physico-chemical parameters were collected. The most common accompanying species for both elodeas are presented, and the difference in species assemblages between the sites with and was confirmed with the ANOSIM test. Furthermore, Indicator Species Analysis revealed eight species characteristic of sites and eleven species characteristic of sites. Fitting multivariate models (CCA and NPMR) to species abundance revealed the ecological reaction of and to environmental descriptors. The most strongly contributing environmental descriptors that influence the distribution of both species are biochemical oxygen demand, electrical conductivity and total phosphorus. In Croatia, the replacement of with was observed in several water bodies with high nutrient loads.