Patterns of allocation and growth in aquatic Sphagnum species
The hypothesis that aquatic plants have greater allocation to photosynthetic tissues was tested using a common garden experiment with three pairs of ecologically contrasting Sphagnum species (S. portoricense and S. papillosum; S. trinitense and S. recurvum; S. macrophyllum var. floridanum and S. strictum). When submerged, aquatic taxa (the former in each pair) all had greater relative growth rates and greater allocation to photosynthetic tissues, as evidenced by higher whole plant chlorophyll content. The evolution of greater photosynthetic allocation appears to result from changes in two independently evolving systems: allocation to photosynthetic cells rather than nonphotosynthetic hyaline cells, and a shift in biochemical partitioning within photosynthetic cells favoring light-reaction proteins. The former was assessed by comparing photosynthetic cell volume in leaves, and the latter was estimated from chlorophyll to nitrogen ratios. The mechanism whereby greater photosynthetic allocation was achieved differed in each aquatic species. In a second experiment, variation in growth and allocation was assessed for three populations each of S. trinitense and S. recurvum. Nested analysis of variance verified that the differences between S. trinitense and S. recurvum observed in relative growth rate and chlorophyll content in the species-level test were robust given the magnitude of population-level variation. It is concluded that (i) aquatic habitats do select for features that lead to greater relative growth rate in submerged environments, (ii) relative growth rate is functionally correlated with allocation to photosynthetic tissues, (iii) allocations at the cellular and biochemical level evolve independently, and (iv) patterns of allocation represent adaptations to environmental conditions present in the aquatic environment. Key words: Sphagnum, relative growth rate, chlorophyll content, allocation, aquatic plants, adaptation.