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| Publication Type | J |
| Authors | Ashraf, M. and M. I. Naqvi |
| Title | Responses of 3 arid zone grass species to varying na/ca ratios in saline sand culture |
| Source | New Phytologist |
| Abstract | The effects on three grass species, Cenchrus pennisetiformis Hochst. & Steud., Leptochloa fusca (L.) Kunth. and Panicum turgidum Forssk., of decreasing Ca2+ concentration in a saline growth medium were assessed after 7 weeks growth in sand culture. The different Na/Ca ratios of the salt treatment were 24, 49, 99, and 199, at a constant concentration of 200 mol m-3. Leptochloa fusca produced the highest fresh and dry biomass, and was able to maintain Na+ and Cl- concentrations in the shoots and roots almost constant at varying external Na/Ca ratios, except that the shoot Na+ concentration increased significantly at the highest Na/Ca ratio. In C. pennisetiformis the shoot Na+ decreased, whereas the shoot Cl- concentration increased at the highest external Na/Ca ratio. But the root Na+ and Cl- concentrations in this species remained unchanged at varying Na/Ca ratios. C. pennisetiformis and L. fusca maintained almost constant K+ and Ca2+ concentrations in both shoots and roots at varying Na/Ca ratios. In P. turgidum the shoot K+ and shoot and root Ca2+ remained almost unchanged at all Na/Ca ratios, whereas the root K+ concentration decreased significantly but uniformly at the three higher Na/Ca ratios. No consistent pattern of increase or decrease was observed in the shoot and root Na/K and Na/Ca ratios of all the species. The shoot selectivity (S(K,Na)) increased consistently in C. pennisetiformis with the increase in Na/Ca ratios and it decreased in L. fusca only at the highest Na/Ca ratio in the growth medium. It was established that L. fusca was tolerant, C. penni-setiformis intermediate and P. turgidum relatively sensitive to low Ca2+ concentrations of the saline growth medium. |
| Author Address | ASHRAF, M (reprint author), BAHAUD DIN ZAKARIYA UNIV,INST PURE & APPL BIOL,MULTAN,PAKISTAN. |
| ISSN | 0028-646X |
| ISBN | 0028-646X |
| 29-Character Source Abbreviation | New Phytol. |
| Publication Date | Oct |
| Year Published | 1991 |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Beginning Page | 285-290 |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1991.tb01032.x |
| Unique Article Identifier | WOS:A1991GM25900011 |
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