Common stonewort
Chara vulgaris
Common stonewort is a multicellular green alga belonging to the Characeae family. It typically inhabits shallow, lime-rich, and moderately nutrient-rich standing waters, ditches, and temporary ponds. The plant is characterized by a rigid, often grey-green appearance, obtaining a rough texture from lime encrustation. It forms dense carpets on the water bed and contributes significantly to water clarity.
Details
Oxygen production
High; contributes significantly to the oxygen saturation of the water body during photosynthesis.
Habitat function
Important spawning ground for fish and a refuge for zooplankton and benthic invertebrates.
Nutrient uptake
Very efficient uptake of phosphates and nitrogen compounds directly from the water column.
Food source for
Food source for various waterfowl (e.g., Red-crested Pochard) and herbivorous fish.
Human use
Formerly used partially as fertilizer (lime source) in agriculture; today occasionally used in aquariums or garden pond maintenance.
Ecology
Ecological role
Pioneer colonizer, stabilization of sediments, nutrient sequestration, and promotion of water clarity by competing with phytoplankton.
Natural predators
Waterfowl, herbivorous fish (e.g., rudd), and various insect larvae.
Competitor species
Other macrophytes such as pondweeds and filamentous green algae under high nutrient loading.
Ecosystem service
Water purification through nutrient uptake, carbon sequestration, provision of habitat for microfauna.
Threats
Eutrophication through fertilizer runoff, herbicides, mechanical disturbance of shorelines, and water turbidity.
Scientific profile
Profile
Reproduction
Generative via oospores, which survive as resting stages in the sediment. Vegetative through shoot fragmentation or by forming bulbils on the rhizoids.
Protection & threats
Main threats
Severe eutrophication (algal blooms), herbicide input from agriculture, mechanical destruction through dredging, and water turbidity.