In a study published in Land Degradation & Development, Assoc. Prof. ZHANG Hongxiang from Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and her collaborators studied the role of nitrogen (N) to emergence and growth of important forages Leymus chinensis (L. chinensis) and Medicago sativa (M. sativa) in saline soils.
Using a 2×2×3×3 (2 forages, 3 salt solutions, 3 nitrogen solutions, 2 sowing conditions) factorial design, the researchers found that nitrogen addition and mixed sowing significantly increased germination rate and seedling height of L. chinensis, but not Medicago sativa.
Besides, they found a new mechanism in the mixed community that M. sativa absorb Na+ and form a ‘micro-bioremediation’ environment around the grass, thus increasing germination and growth of L. chinensis.
Successful establishment is a key determinant for cultivation of plants in degraded saline soils. This study provides important information for grass-legume mixed pasture establishment in degraded saline soils, which helps to achieve the sustainable use and improvement of degraded saline soils.
ZHANG Hongxiang
Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology
E-mail: zhanghongxiang@iga.ac.cn
Nitrogen addition can improve seedling establishment of N‐sensitive species in degraded saline soils
By conducting a field manipulation experiment in Duolun Restoration Ecological Research Station, Dr. CAI Jiangping and coworkers from Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences examined the effects of N and water addition on soil acidification c...
AtHKT1 encoding a sodium transporter is responsible for the high leaf sodium in these accessions, and was then hypothesized to drive local adaptation to saline environments in A. thaliana. Researchers at Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology of Chinese Academ...
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