Azolla caroliniana (Mosquito Fern)

about the species

Azolla caroliniana is a small, free-floating aquatic fern from the order Salviniales found in relatively still waters, ponds, and lakes, both in the water and along its edges. Unlike other true ferns, A. caroliniana and other members of its order are heterosporous. Like other members of its genus, A. caroliniana is a nitrogen fixer, and can sequester large amounts of carbon due to their rapid annual blooms and busts.

why species was selected

These plants are also ecologically and economically significant as nitrogen fixers, providing organically available nitrogen to not only natural systems, but to agricultural ones. In addition, they can also act as a substantial carbon sink under the right conditions.

Click here to access the NCBI Umbrella Project