Ch. Keiffer et al., EFFECT OF SALINITY AND WATERLOGGING ON GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF SALICORNIA-EUROPAEA L, AN INLAND HALOPHYTE, The Ohio journal of science, 94(3), 1994, pp. 70-73
Salicornia europaea seedlings were exposed to various salinity and wat
er depths for 11 weeks under controlled, growth chamber conditions. We
ekly measurements were made of height, number of nodes, and number of
branches per plant. Growth and survival of plants grown with the addit
ion of NaCl were significantly greater (P <0.0001) than for plants whi
ch were not given a salt treatment. Although there were no significant
(P >0.05) growth differences among plants under different water level
conditions within the salt treatment group, plants which were grown w
ithout NaCl demonstrated significant decreases in growth in higher wat
er levels, with the greatest growth occurring in the low water treatme
nt group. All plants given a salt treatment survived until the end of
the experiment. However, high mortality occurred among the plants that
were not salt-treated, with all plants grown under waterlogged condit
ions dying by week six. The high mortality exhibited by this treatment
group indicates that Salicornia which is typically found in low marsh
or inland salt marsh situations, was unable to overcome the combined
stress of being continuously waterlogged in a freshwater environment.