XVI International Botanical Congess

Here we present two examples of inter-specific comparisons of root aeration in wetland plants that provide evidence that differences in ability to aerate roots are important for competitive interaction and plant zonation in nature. These are (i) Cladium jamaicense and Typha domingensis, which are currently competing in the Florida Everglades, and (ii) three species from New Zealand, which differ in the type of sediment and depth of water they will colonise. In both cases, differences in root structure and metabolism that provide higher axial fluxes of oxygen allow deeper and more extensive root growth in flooded soils in some species than others.