The T. hemprichii N concentration in different tissues showed only one of the two distribution patterns found for nutrient loading in the bay, which suggests that this bioindicator is less responsive to the nutrient loading status. This finding was confirmed by the Pearson correlation analysis result: the N contents in the roots and rhizomes show no statistically significant correlations with the DIN concentrations in the water column and porewater. The response of the nitrogen contents in the tissues to a nutrient gradienthas a more complex interpretation because it can also be governed
by other limiting factors (e.g., light), competition for nutrients by epiphytes, and the internal N and C metabolism . We found an imbalance in the N/P ratio in the water column (N/P ratio