Premium
Differential salt tolerance of two Artemisia species growing in contrasting coastal habitats
Author(s) -
Ishikawa ShinIchi,
Kachi Naoki
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1703.2000.00345.x
Subject(s) - artemisia , perennial plant , relative growth rate , salinity , salt marsh , germination , specific leaf area , biology , habitat , botany , growth rate , agronomy , horticulture , ecology , photosynthesis , geometry , mathematics
To investigate factors determining the differences in their salt tolerance, growth and germination, experiments were conducted on two plant species belonging to genus Artemisia : Artemisia fukudo Makino, a biennial salt marsh plant and Artemisia stelleriana Bess, a perennial coastal hind dune plant. Growth experiments revealed that salinity (100 and 300 m M NaCl) inhibited the relative growth rate (RGR) in A. stelleriana significantly but not in A. fukudo. These specific differences in salt tolerance were mainly attributed to differential responses of net assimilation rate (NAR). That is, the reduction in RGR in A. stelleriana was mainly due to the reduction in NAR, whereas no significant reduction in NAR was observed in A. fukudo . The reduction in RGR in A. stelleriana in the salt treatment was also attributable to a reduced leaf area ratio (LAR). Specific leaf area (SLA) in the two species decreased in the 300 m M treatment. The decrease in SLA in A. fukudo was, however, compensated for partly by an increase in leaf weight ratio (LWR). Germination experiments also showed that A. fukudo has a higher salt tolerance than does A. stelleriana . These results are consistent with the differences in the salinity conditions between the native habitats of the two species.