Tolerance of six Namaqualand pioneer species to saline soil conditions

Abstract

Saline soils pose a great problem to reclamation of mined areas in arid regions. Experiments were carried out in order to determine the tolerance of six Namaqualand pioneer species to varying levels of salinity. Both perennial and ephemeral species were used and results of all species showed that increased salinity induced a significant decrease in biomass production. With increased salinity, biomass allocation towards the leaves increased, while that towards the stems decreased in both perennial and ephemeral species, but biomass allocation towards the other plant organs varied. Of the six species tested, the perennials seemed to be better suited for rehabilitation purposes under saline soil conditions.