Mini-Review of Knowledge Gaps in Salt Tolerance of Plants Applied to Willows and Poplars

Abstract

Salt tolerance of agricultural crops has been studied since the 1940, but knowledge regarding salt tolerance of woody crops is still in its initial phase. Salt tolerance of agricultural crops has been expressed as the yield decrease due to a certain salt concentration within the root zone as compared to a non-saline control. The most well-known plant response curve to salinity has been a piece-wise linear regression relating crop yield to root zone salinity. This method used the hypothesis that crops tolerate salt up to a threshold after which their yield decreases approximately linearly. Critique to this method included its lack of sensitivity to dynamic factors such as weather conditions. As a result, other classification indices have been developed, but none is as well accepted as the threshold-slope model. In addition to a mini-review of the key salt tolerance studies, our objective was to classify salt tolerance levels of poplars and willows. Initial classification showed that salt tolerance of these genera ranged from sensitive to moderately tolerant.

Keywords::

• electrical conductivity
• intensive forestry
• Populus
• phytoremediation
• Salix
• stress

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for reviews of earlier versions of the manuscript from Drs. Jim Jordahl and Nele Weyens.