Effects of salt stress on growth of Quercus ilex L. seedlings

Abstract

High salt concentration is one of the main factors that affects plants' growth, especially in urban areas. Many Mediterranean sclerophyllous species manifest high resistance to salt, although few information exists in the literature on Quercus ilex. The aim of this work was to evaluate the response of Q. ilex seedlings to salt stress conditions generated by an increasing concentration of sodium chloride on water supply irrigation. A 2-year experiment was conducted by using salt water at different concentrations (first year 50-100-200 and second year 75-150-300 mM NaCl). At increasing salt concentration, a plant growth reduction was registered in both years. Until 200 mM NaCl, the plants grew and did not show any visible damage on the leaves, while at 300 mM NaCl, all the plants died. Also, the photosynthetic rate decreased at increasing salt concentration. Sodium was accumulated in the plant parts and this accumulation occurred at the expense of potassium uptake.