Effects of Soil Salinity on Growth, Ion Relations, and Compatible Solute Accumulation of Two Sumac Species: Rhus glabra and Rhus trilobata

Abstract

The effects of soil salinity on growth, photosynthetic pigments, ion relations, and compatible solute accumulation of two sumac seedlings (Rhus glabra and Rhus trilobata) treated with five salinity levels in a completely randomized block design with four replications were studied. Both species were inhibited by soil salinity, but salt-damaged symptoms appeared much earlier and more severely in R. glabra, and relative height growth rates (RGR_H) and photosynthetic pigment contents were much higher on average in R. trilobata. The biomass increment, root/shoot ratio, and relative shoot dry weight (DW) were significantly affected only in R. glabra. Rhus trilobata showed stable potassium (K⁺) concentration and low sodium (Na⁺) accumulation in roots, stems, and leaves, and a proline concentration 10 times greater than that of R. glabra. Overall, our findings suggest that R. trilobata is more salt-tolerant than R. glabra, which is presumably rooted in its better performance in ionic homeostasis and osmotic regulation.

Keywords:

• Growth
• ion relations
• osmotic regulation
• salt tolerance
• sumac

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grant for National Non-profit Research Institutions of CAF (CAFYBB2011005-5) and the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” of the National Scientific and Technological Support Project of China (2011BAD38B0102).