Degradation of emergent and submerged macrophytes in an oxbow lake of an embanked backwater system: Implications for the terrestrialization process

Ecological alterations of wetlands due to anthropogenic influence are a cen tral topic of discussions focussing on the restoration of these disturbed e cosystems. In this context we investigated the role of macrophytes in the t errestrialization process of an oxbow lake of the river Danube, where a thi ck sediment layer has developed since river regulation. One third of the ox bow lake is covered by a reed belt, fuelling about 140 tons of plant materi al per year into the detritus pool. From Submerged macrophytes the system r eceives about 48 tons. Degradation of emergent macrophytes is slow due to e arly burial by sediment, leading quickly to anaerobic conditions. Thus emer gent macrophytes contribute significantly to the terrestrialization process . The fast decomposition of submerged macrophytes indicates a low contribut ion to the terrestrialization process.