Salinity tolerance of Atriplex leucoclada under greenhouse condition and natural habitats of Fars province

In the current study, the salinity tolerance of Atriplex leucoclada, a native species to Iran with appropriate nutritional value for livestock, was investigated under greenhouse condition and natural habitats of Fars province. For this purpose, NaCl treatments at different concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mM were applied on pots in a growth chamber at 20°C and a photoperiod of 8/16 h (light: dark), and growth characteristics were measured. Soil and plant sampling was conducted in natural ecotypes of Atriplex leucoclada in Darab region. Plant samples were collected randomly from the roots and shoots in vegetative growth stage, and soil samples were taken from two soil depths of 0- 10 and 10-45 cm. The results of NaCl effects on growth characteristics of Atriplex leucoclada in vegetative growth stage showed that significant differences were found among the studiedconcentrations of NaCl as compared to the control group. Our results clearly showed that all studied growth characteristics including shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight,LWR, LAR, SLA, plant height and LA increased at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, and 300 mM in comparison with control. However, increasing salinity stress more than 300 mM caused to the reduction of growth characteristics significantly. As a result, salinity stress up to 300 mm NaCl not only limited the growth of Atriplex leucoclada but also increased the growth characteristics, indicating that this species is an obligatory halophyte in vegetative growth stage.