Effect of Different Irrigation Levels on Performance and Water Consumption Efficiency of Ammodendron Persicum in early stages of plantingAbstract

Diversification of used species in sand stabilization and desertification can help sustain these ecosystems. Most species used in sand stabilization require initial support to adapt to new conditions over time. One of the most important of these supports is irrigation in the early years of planting. In this study, the yield and water use efficiency of (Ammodendron persicum) in lysimetric conditions under the influence of different levels of irrigation were considered. Different irrigation levels consisted of 75, 50, and 25 percent irrigation and field capacity (control), applied in a completely randomized design with four replications. Evapotranspiration rates in control, 75, 50, and 25% under-irrigation treatments were 60, 47, 37, and 26 liters, respectively. By calculating water use efficiency based on the amount of dry matter produced per liter of transpiration water, it was found that there was a significant difference between different treatments. The highest water use efficiency with 2.07 g of dry matter for per liter of transpiration was related to 50% irrigation treatment. As the water consumption decreased, the root to aerial part ratio increased, so that it showed a significant difference in different treatments. The root to aerial part ratio in the control was 0.84 and in the 75% under-irrigation treatment was 1.51. The results of this study showed that Ammodendron persicum in the early stages of establishment due to low growth rate had low water requirements and improved its water use efficiency through various mechanisms such as root development. Due to the low growth, water loss through evaporation in early stages of establishment was high, and to improve irrigation efficiency, appropriate methods to reduce evaporation and maintain soil moisture are recommended.