Oxygen Deficiency in <i>Spartina alterniflora</i> Roots: Metabolic Adaptation to Anoxia

Abstract

The aerenchyma (air-space) tissue in the wetland macrophyte Spartina alterniflora conveys sufficient oxygen to roots for predominately aerobic respiration in moderately, but not highly, reduced substrates. Continuously flooded plants survive by respiring anaerobically, although growth is decreased. Two metabolic adaptations to flooding are displayed in this species, depending on the degree of soil reduction.