The Relationship between Allometric Growth and the Stoichiometric Characteristics of Euhalophyte Suaeda salsa L. Grown in Saline-Alkali Lands: Biological Desalination Potential Prediction

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 14; p. 1954
• Main Authors: Wang, Yanyan, Guo, Tongkai, Liu, Qun, Hu, Zhonglin, Tian, Changyan, Hu, Mingfang, Mai, Wenxuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Agricultural production; allometric analysis; Aquatic resources; Arid regions; biological desalination; Biological effects; Biomass; China; Desalination; Environmental conditions; euhalophyte; Leaching; Leaves; morphological adjustment; Morphology; Nitrogen; Nutrients; Pattern analysis; Physical characteristics; saline soil; Saline soils; Saline water conversion; Salinity; Salt; Salts; Sodium chloride; Soils, Salts in; Stems; stoichiometric characteristics; Stoichiometry; China; allometric analysis; morphological adjustment; euhalophyte; biological desalination; saline soil; stoichiometric characteristics
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants13141954

The morphological adjustments of euhalophytes are well-known to be influenced by the soil-soluble salt variation; however, whether and how these changes in morphological traits alter the biomass allocation pattern remains unclear, especially under different NaCl levels. Therefore, an allometric analysis was applied to investigate the biomass allocation pattern and morphological plasticity, and the carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometric characteristics of the euhalophyte ( ) at the four soil-soluble salt levels of no salt (NS), light salt (LS), moderate salt (MS), and heavy salt (HS). The results showed that soil-soluble salts significantly change the biomass allocation to the stems and leaves ( < 0.05). With the growth of , the NS treatment produced a downward leaf mass ratio (LMR) and upward stem mass ratio (SMR); this finding was completely different from that for the salt treatments. When was harvested on the 100th day, the HS treatment had the highest LMR (61%) and the lowest SMR (31%), while the NS treatment was the opposite, with an LMR of 44% and an SMR of 50%. Meanwhile, the soil-soluble salt reshaped the morphological characteristics of (e.g., root length, plant height, basal stem diameter, and leaf succulence). Combined with the stoichiometric characteristics, N uptake restriction under salt stress is a vital reason for inhibited stem growth. Although the NS treatment had the highest biomass (48.65 g root box ), the LS treatment had the highest salt absorption (3.73 g root box ). In conclusion, can change its biomass allocation pattern through morphological adjustments to adapt to different saline-alkali habitats. Moreover, it has an optimal biological desalting effect in lightly saline soil dominated by NaCl.