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Controlling Soil Factor in Plant Growth and Salt Tolerance of Leguminous Plant Alhagi sparsifolia Shap. in Saline Deserts, Northwest China

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Contemporary Problems of Ecology Aims and scope

Abstract

The understanding of relationships between the plants and environmental variables is important for ecological restoration. The objective of this research was to investigate the controlling soil factor in plant growth and salt tolerance of leguminous plant Alhagi sparsifolia Shap. (A. sparsifolia) in a saline desert ecosystem of western China. Results showed that coverage of A. sparsifolia was positively linked to soil total K. A. sparsifolia accumulated the toxic Na+ in either roots or stems and thus reduced their allocation in the leaves to adapt the salt stress. The most important factor that determined Na+ uptake of A. sparsifolia was soil total K content, which suggests that total K can alleviate toxic Na+ accumulation in A. sparsifolia. In addition, there was a significant negative correlation among toxic Cl− concentration in A. sparsifolia, soil total K and pH. Overall, soil total K accounted for 18.2% of plant growth and salt tolerance of A. sparsifolia, followed by soil pH 13.1%, and soil total P 11.6%. In order to restore A. sparsifolia in the degraded desert ecosystems on salinized soil, first we need to consider the effects of soil total K, and then synergistically consider the soil pH and total P.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Bo Zhang, Dongwei Gui, Xiaopeng Gao, Muhammad Shareef, Lei Li & Fanjiang Zeng

  2. Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert-Grassland Ecosystems, Cele, Xinjiang, 848300, China

    Bo Zhang, Dongwei Gui, Xiaopeng Gao, Muhammad Shareef, Lei Li & Fanjiang Zeng

  3. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Zone, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Bo Zhang, Dongwei Gui, Xiaopeng Gao, Muhammad Shareef, Lei Li & Fanjiang Zeng

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100049, China

    Bo Zhang & Muhammad Shareef

  5. Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada

    Xiaopeng Gao

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  1. Bo Zhang
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  2. Dongwei Gui
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  3. Xiaopeng Gao
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  4. Muhammad Shareef
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  5. Lei Li
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  6. Fanjiang Zeng
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Correspondence to Fanjiang Zeng.

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Zhang, B., Gui, D., Gao, X. et al. Controlling Soil Factor in Plant Growth and Salt Tolerance of Leguminous Plant Alhagi sparsifolia Shap. in Saline Deserts, Northwest China. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 11, 111–121 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S199542551801002X

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S199542551801002X

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