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Saline–Alkaline Resistance: Physiological and Ecological Characteristics of Sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis)

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Sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis): An Environmentally Friendly Native Grass for Animals

Abstract

Soil salinization is a serious problem in the sustainable development of agricultural resources especially for the arid- and semiarid regions throughout the world. Sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel) is considered to be originally dormant species in Northeastern China where the soil is suffering from the saline–alkaline stress. Saline–alkaline stresses often show inhibiting effects on the growth of sheepgrass, while sheepgrass also develops a series of adapting strategies in response to the stress. This chapter covers the characteristics of seed germination, seedling growth, and photosynthetic characteristics of sheepgrass under saline–alkaline stress and explains how the species adapts to saline–alkaline stress in morphology and by osmotic adjustment and changes in antioxidant enzyme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, Changchun, China

    Hongyuan Ma

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  1. Hongyuan Ma
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Correspondence to Hongyuan Ma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Gongshe Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xiaoxia Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Qingfen Zhang

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Ma, H. (2019). Saline–Alkaline Resistance: Physiological and Ecological Characteristics of Sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis). In: Liu, G., Li, X., Zhang, Q. (eds) Sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis): An Environmentally Friendly Native Grass for Animals. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8633-6_6

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