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TURFGRASS SCIENCE

Criteria for Assessing Salinity Tolerance of the Halophytic Turfgrass Seashore Paspalum

Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA30223-1797

^* Corresponding author (rcarrow{at}griffin.uga.edu).

Turfgrass improvement for salinity tolerance requires reliable assessment of salt-tolerance variability among grasses. Using seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Sw.) as a model halophytic grass, the objectives are to discuss problems of applying traditional direct salinity classification criteria used for glycophytic to halophytic turfgrasses and to provide a set of evaluation criteria for halophytic turfgrasses for which traditional criteria at the soil salinity of EC_e (electrical conductivity of soil) <30 dS m^–1 are not sufficient. The most salt-tolerant ecotypes exhibit cubic salinity-growth response curves, usually at EC_w (electrical conductivity of water) >30 dS m^–1, which confound the use of the traditional criteria-threshold EC_e, slope factor based on decline in growth with increasing salinity, and EC_e for 50% growth reduction. Using absolute growth rather than relative growth (percent of nonsaline control) is important for halophytic grass screening, especially for ecotypes within a species, since plant vigor is necessary in salt-affected sites. Salinity-growth curves for shoot, root, verdure, and total plant growth provide the most information for separation of ecotypes for salt-tolerance, with shoot and root response curves the most critical. Minimum screening criteria that require the least time and cost for large numbers of ecotypes are recommended as absolute growth at nonsaline conditions, growth at the highest salinity level expected for use of the grass, and leaf firing. For the limited number of the most tolerant ecotypes, more detailed salinity-growth curves are necessary, including data at salinities of EC_w >30 dS m^–1. Classical salt-tolerance ranks together all grasses as "tolerant" with no classes above the levels of a threshold EC_w >10 dS m^–1 or an EC_w for 50% reduction of >22 dS m^–1 (Maas, 1994). Halophytic grasses can exhibit considerable variation in salinity tolerance at well above these salinities and ranking classes should be developed that are appropriate to distinguish these classes.

Abbreviations: EC_w, electrical conductivity of water • EC_e, electrical conductivity of soil/saturated paste • CV, coefficient of variation • HI, Hawaii • K, Kopec • SIPV, Sea Island Paspalum vaginatum

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Crop Science 2005 45: xi. [Full Text]