The time has finally come to take a serious look at Elodea canadensis.
Its hardiness, the speed with which it grows in bright places, and the fact that it can grow steadily even in relatively dark places, as well as its ability to adapt to both clear streams and sewers, in the middle of winter and summer, make it a truly kingly aquatic plant.
It is also known as Anacharis.
Let's start afresh.
And let me think about Elodea canadensis.
It is a very invasive species.
Its first record of outdoor reproduction in Japan was in 1960.
It is often used in educational biology experiments because it is very easy to observe "chloroplasts and protoplasmic streaming".
According to Wikipedia, it was brought to Japan from South America as a biological experiment material.
Sugarcane is a living organism that has been mass-produced by humans because its "stalks are sweet", and in a sense it is thriving in a big way, but it is quite a strange fate that it has thrived on another continent because its "chloroplasts are easy to observe".
Furthermore, in the aquarium world, it is highly valued because it is "easy to grow" and "easy to absorb nitrate ions and purify water", and a huge amount of it is in circulation.
The advantages of Elodea canadensis as mentioned above are reflected in its low price.
Its habitat is now said to be expanding to North America, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.
Is it trying to conquer the world?
Even in the 1-ton Mini-Earth "Biocube," Elodea canadensis has its stems stretching out in all directions under the carpet of duckweed.
Elodea canadensis has thick stems that act as a strong obstacle to fish, so it is thought to be effective as a hiding place for young guppies and shrimp.
When setting up the tank for this experiment, the water was so green that it was impossible to observe the contents.
So an unreasonable number of freshwater snails(Sinotaia quadrata histrica) and freshwater clams were added, but this just added more organic matter to the eutrophic tank, so it's hard to say that it was a fundamental solution.
It's unclear what was the deciding factor that caused the green water to solve the problem (probably various factors contributed little by little).
However, now we can say with confidence that eutrophication is impossible, thanks to the massive growth of Elodea canadensis.
It means that Growth speed is equal to nitrate absorption capacity and photosynthetic capacity!
Perhaps the environment of the sealed tank in Mini-Earth is too harsh, but in the past, even Elodea canadensis in Mini-Earth, which could be maintained for years, eventually died.
Now it's huge and has amazing coloring, so there's no sign of that happening.
Actually, I remember suspecting allelopathy about 7 or 8 years ago and looking into it, but I don't think I could find any articles about allelopathy in aquatic plants at the time.
However, if you search now, you'll find a lot of articles.
For example, you can see a document from the Ministry of the Environment.
https://www.env.go.jp/nature/intro/4document/data/sentei/plant04/mat04.pdf
It is featured extensively on page 20.
It clearly says that Elodea canadensis has strong allelopathic activity!
If the plants in the mini-earth are allelopathic, it will become more intense when the environment becomes too crowded for the plants.
For now, it seems that the biomass of the plants is increasing overall, including the screw vallisneria, in the closed aquarium "Biocube".
Now is the time to declare loudly that Elodea canadensis is indeed the king of aquatic plants.
Today, I would like to introduce some important facts about Elodea canadensis's specifications that support this and its condition in the 1-ton Mini-Earth "Biocube".
First of all, Elodea canadensis has a considerable shade tolerance and grows slowly even with just indoor lighting.
In addition, it has two extreme faces, where it shows its true potential and grows explosively when it has strong light, nutrients, and carbon dioxide.
In this respect, it is clearly superior to Alternanthera reineckii mini, which thrives only in sunny areas.
On the other hand, willow moss and other plants have strong shade tolerance, but they do not go into explosive growth mode in bright places.
Elodea canadensis is strong in both bright and dark places.
Like Elodea canadensis, Elodea canadensis has high shade tolerance and will grow explosively if the conditions are right.
The surprising vitality of Elodea canadensis was mentioned in the previous section.
We also mentioned that both Elodea canadensis have very strong rooting power, which seems to help cultivate rich soil.
Let's compare these powerful species with Elodea canadensis.
First, let's look at photosynthesis.
Alternanthera reineckii mini (C4 plant) and Screwvallisneria (CAM plant) have evolved a special type of photosynthesis that has adapted to dryness, and in particular their ability to concentrate carbon dioxide allows them to photosynthesize even in environments with low carbon dioxide concentrations, which is probably one of the reasons why these aquatic plants are so strong.
In addition, both closely related species, even in the same genus, are designated as invasive alien species.
So what about Elodea canadensis?
Compared to the special photosynthesis of C4 and CAM plants, the photosynthesis of ordinary plants is called C3 photosynthesis.
C4 and CAM photosynthesis can adapt to harsh environments such as low carbon dioxide, but they use extra energy to do so, and if there are no limiting factors such as dry low carbon dioxide, C3 photosynthesis is more energy efficient.
C4 and CAM photosynthesis are incredible techniques, but they are not superior to C3 types in all situations, no matter when or where.
Elodea canadensis is a cheat plant that can use both C3 and C4 types interchangeably.
In addition, carbon dioxide in water can be broadly divided into free carbon dioxide and bicarbonate ions, and the ratio of these two varies greatly depending on the pH.
Elodea can adapt to a wide range of conditions, from a weakly acidic pH of 6.0 to a weakly alkaline pH of 8.0, and can utilize both free carbon dioxide and bicarbonate ions.
Elodea can also withstand high and low temperatures, and in both cases it is one of the most durable aquatic plants.
As for the roots, they can multiply rapidly just by floating, but once they take root, they become even more unmanageable.
The roots themselves are weak and do not seem to spread out much, but since they are a full-fledged angiosperm, it is assumed that they do not simply fix the body but also absorb nutrients and breathe.
In this way, Elodea is top-class one in almost every performance, but it also seems to inhibit the growth of other plants through allelopathy.
It is exactly like a golden club for a demon, a naginata for Benkei, tartar sauce for fried shrimp, or a tiger stripe for Lum-chan, which means that Elodea is very strong.
We can see from the results that this is the strongest aquatic plant.
In the aquatic sphere of the Biocube, Alternanthera reineckii mini only lives in sunny places, while Screwvallisneria only lives in the eastern half.
So, let's think about Elodea canadensis.
It is clear from the results that this is the strongest aquatic plant.
In the aquatic sphere of the Biocube, Alternanthera reineckii mini only lives in sunny places, and Screwvallisneria only lives in the eastern half.
The carpet of duckweed, Water Lemna, and Azolla share the territory.
However, Elodea canadensis grows in multiple layers over almost the entire area.
Its biomass is simply overwhelming and unrivaled.
And while I mentioned that the closely related species of Alternanthera reineckii mini and Screwvallisneria are invasive alien species, Elodea canadensis itself is an invasive alien species, as you know, and has completely established itself in Japan.
Many people have seen it growing in abundance even in irrigation channels lined with concrete on three sides, providing a hiding place for small fish and shrimp.
Elodea canadensis may have already established its position as the king of aquatic plants in the outside world.
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