Abstract
Soil and water salinization is a major problem today. Many crop species do not tolerate this condition. The use of halophytes to remove salt from the soil and water is an emerging strategy. Environmental remediation using biodiversity has been widely used because it is a low cost and easy management technique, compared to chemical and physical amelioration options. Halophytes are tolerant plants capable to accumulate and/or exclude salts using different mechanisms. These plants have anatomical and physiological adaptations as well as fast metabolic responses to promote osmotic adjustment and avoid saline stress. This approach is evolving as salt tolerance as “halophytoremediation.” The species used may belong to different families and genera because they have different tolerance mechanisms.
This chapter deals with (a) what are halophytes, (b) salient information about halophytes, (c) why do we need halophytes, (d) what are the threats for halophytes, (e) how to protect and conserve halophytes, and (f) how salinity tolerant plants can be used to remedy saline soils by allowing food to be grown in these areas in the future.
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Garcia, J.S., França, M.G.C., Prasad, M.N.V. (2021). Haloremediation for Amelioration of Salinity. In: Grigore, MN. (eds) Handbook of Halophytes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57635-6_88
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57635-6_88
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