Wetland Plant Adaptations

Physiological Adaptations to Wetland Environments

• Radial oxygen loss to the rhizosphere occurs in wetland plants, where oxygen leaks out into the surrounding soil environment from the roots.
• This process has two benefits: it oxidizes toxic products caused by reducing conditions in wetland soils, preventing them from building up to harmful levels around the roots, and it supplies oxygen to nitrifying bacteria.
• Nitrifying bacteria transform ammonium to nitrate, the form of nitrogen that is most readily taken up by most plant species.
• Wetland plants have a greater tolerance to the toxic end products of anaerobic respiration, including ethanol and acetaldehyde.
• Some wetland plants are thought to have more efficient means of tolerating or exporting these byproducts from the roots.