The Monod model describes the relationship between growth rate and ambient nutrient concentration, the Droop model focuses on internal nutrient resources as the driving factor. Both were applied mainly to explain phytoplankton dynamics in lakes or in experimental cultures. Our test plants were two species of duckweeds – Lemna minor L. and Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleiden sampled from 18 natural stands situated in 6 different water bodies. Plants were grown outdoor in original lake water or in mineral media of varying N and P concentrations (0–21 mg N-NO3 L-1 and 0–1853 μg P-PO4 L-1 for L.minor and 0–4.2 mg N-NO3 L-1 and 0–371 μg P-PO4 L-1 for S. polyrhiza). Moreover, we analysed concentrations of mineral forms of N and P in lake water and tissue nutrient concentrations in plants. Tissue N of both plants was significantly correlated with ambient inorganic nitrogen sources, no such relationship was observed for tissue P. The growth rate of both plants measured under experimental outdoor conditions was better explained by tissue N and P variability (the Droop model) than by the external nutrient availability (the Monod model). The latter also failed to fit the growth rate of both plants in artificial mineral media with a decreasing gradient of N and P concentrations. The plants grew at the expense of internal N and P resources which remarkably declined during 9-day long experiments. Calculated minimum tissue contents (11.19 ± 1.11 mg N g-1 and 0.97 ± 0.07 mg P g-1 in L. minor and 6.10 ± 1.85 mg N and 1.25 ± 0.37 mg P g-1 in S. polyrhiza) show that the latter species would be a superior competitor under N limiting conditions and the former – under P limitation. We confront obtained results with literature data on N uptake kinetics and postulate that the luxury consumption of nutrients and plant growth dependent mainly on internal N and P resources might be an adaptation of duckweeds to varying habitat conditions typical of astatic water bodies.
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