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Re: CO2 use at nighttime?
Eric Scheeff <edscheef at sdcc14_ucsd.edu> wrote
> Mark wrote:
> >CO2 is used directly by plants; there is no chemical precursor or
> >storage product for CO2.
> This is probably true in all aquatics but not all plants. Many desert
I was wondering about this the other day, and whether fish folks
concerned about increases in CO2 at night could plant CAM plants
to take up the CO2 accumulating because of a lack of C3 photosynthesis.
It turns out there are at least two aquatic plants that are
possible CAM or C4 plants: isoetes (quillwort) and a crassulacean (unusual
because these are, as you say, usually desert plants.)
I imagine isoetes is less of a submerged plant than it is a bog
plant, but the crassulacean is submerged. The adaptation of CAM
in aquatic plants was rationalized as an advantage in poorly
aerated waters where CO2 might be in low abundance.
Wayne
hughes at dogwood_botany.uga.edu