Appendix 1 Description of lemna spp.

The aquatic plant commonly referred to as duckweed, Lemna spp., belongs to the family Lemnaceae which has a number of worldwide species in four genera. Their different appearance and taxonomy have been exhaustively described (1)(2). Lemna gibba and L. minor are species representative of temperate areas and are commonly used for toxicity tests. Both species have a floating or submerged discoid stem (frond) and a very thin root emanates from the centre of the lower surface of each frond. Lemna spp. rarely produce flowers and the plants reproduce by vegetatively producing new fronds (3). In comparison with older plants, the younger ones tend to be paler, have shorter roots and consist of two to three fronds of different sizes. The small size of Lemna, its simple structure, asexual reproduction and short generation time makes plants of this genus very suitable for laboratory testing (4)(5).

Because of probable interspecies variation in sensitivity, only comparisons of sensitivity within a species are valid.

Lemna aequinoctialis: Eklund, B. (1996). The use of the red alga Ceramium strictum and the duckweed Lemna aequinoctialis in aquatic ecotoxicological bioassays. Licentiate in Philosophy Thesis 1996:2. Dep. of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University.

Lemna major: Clark, N. A. (1925). The rate of reproduction of Lemna major as a function of intensity and duration of light. J. phys. Chem., 29: 935-941.

Lemna minor: United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). (1996). OPPTS 850.4400 Aquatic Plant Toxicity Test Using Lemna spp., ‘Public draft’. EPA 712-C-96-156. 8pp.

Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR). (1996). XP T 90-337: Détermination de l’inhibition de la croissance de Lemna minor. 10pp.

Swedish Standards Institute (SIS). (1995). Water quality — Determination of growth inhibition (7-d) Lemna minor, duckweed. SS 02 82 13. 15pp. (in Swedish).

Lemna gibba: ASTM International. (2003). Standard Guide for Conducting Static Toxicity Test With Lemna gibba G3. E 1415-91 (Reapproved 1998). pp. 733-742.

United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). (1996). OPPTS 850.4400 Aquatic Plant Toxicity Test Using Lemna spp., ‘Public draft’. EPA 712-C-96-156. 8pp.

Lemna paucicostata: Nasu, Y., Kugimoto, M. (1981). Lemna (duckweed) as an indicator of water pollution. I. The sensitivity of Lemna paucicostata to heavy metals. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 10:1959-1969.

Lemna perpusilla: Clark, J. R. et al. (1981). Accumulation and depuration of metals by duckweed (Lemna perpusilla). Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 5:87-96.

Lemna trisulca: Huebert, D. B., Shay, J. M. (1993). Considerations in the assessment of toxicity using duckweeds. Environ. Toxicol. and Chem., 12:481-483.

Lemna valdiviana: Hutchinson, T.C., Czyrska, H. (1975). Heavy metal toxicity and synergism to floating aquatic weeds. Verh.-Int. Ver. Limnol., 19:2102-2111.

1. (1)

   Hillman, W.S. (1961). The Lemnaceae or duckweeds: A review of the descriptive and experimental literature. The Botanical Review, 27:221-287.

2. (2)

   Landolt, E. (1986). Biosystematic investigations in the family of duckweed (Lemnaceae). Vol. 2. Geobotanischen Inst. ETH, Stiftung Rubel, Zürich, Switzerland.

3. (3)

   Björndahl, G. (1982). Growth performance, nutrient uptake and human utilization of duckweeds (Lemnaceae family). ISBN 82-991150-0-0. The Agricultural Research Council of Norway, University of Oslo.

4. (4)

   Wang, W. (1986). Toxicity tests of aquatic pollutants by using common duckweed. Environmental Pollution, Ser B, 11:1-14.

5. (5)

   Wang, W. (1990). Literature review on duckweed toxicity testing. Environmental Research, 52:7-22.