The correlations between leaf traits of plants with floating leaves and the responses of these traits to changes in water depth can be used to explore the ecological adaptation strategies of aquatic plants. However, few studies have investigated the covariation and correlation of leaf petiole and leaf morphological indices of aquatic plants along natural water depth gradients. Three plots were established along a water depth gradient: plot I (shallow water, with a water depth ranging from 0 to 20 cm), plot II (medium water, with a water depth ranging from 20 to 40 cm), and plot III (deep water, with a water level ranging from 40 to 60 cm). The floating plant Nymphoides peltata (S. G. Gmel.) Kuntze was studied in the Qionghai National Wetland Park, Sichuan Province, China. The results showed that N. peltata had large, thin leaves and short, thin leaf petioles in plot I; the leaf petiole and leaf traits were opposite of those in Plot III. In the three plots, leaf petiole length and leaf petiole diameter were significantly negatively correlated with leaf area, leaf circumference, leaf length, and leaf width (p < 0.05). N. peltata can maintain normal growth, survival, and reproduction in heterogeneous habitats with different water depths by altering its leaf morphological characteristics in a timely manner. This study is helpful for understanding the mechanism of phenotypic plasticity in aquatic plants with floating foliage in heterogeneous environments and provides a scientific basis for the management of aquatic plants in wetlands.

Rapid accumulation of soil lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), and fluorine (F) caused by bastnasite mining development has increasingly become a concern worldwide in the past decades. However, the effects of the different chemical forms of these elements on the composition and diversity of soil dominant, moderate, and rare microorganisms are unclear. In this study, Planctomycetota was changed from dominant to moderate, caused by exchangeable and carbonate-bound forms of La and Ce. Both organic bound La (La_ORG) and water-soluble F (F_WS) were the crucial factors driving variations in the relative abundance of Patescibacteria and Bacteroidota from moderate to dominant, while the fungal phylum Chytridiomycota was changed from moderate to dominant, promoted by F_WS. La_ORG, the ferrum-manganese bound form of Ce, and F_WS displayed a negative correlation with the three rare bacterial phyla, i.e., Abditibacteriota, GAL15, and Deinococcota respectively. F_WS caused the disappearance of the rare fungal phylum Monoblepharomycota and the appearance of the rare bacterial phylum Fibrobacterota. Organic bound forms of both Ce and F showed a negative correlation with the bacterial Sobs and fungal Phylogenetic diversity indices, respectively. To summarize, the different chemical forms of La, Ce, and F showed varied effects on the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities.