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Growth and leaf gas exchange in Populus euphratica across soil water and salinity gradients

  • Published:
Photosynthetica

Abstract

Soil water and salinity conditions of the riparian zones along the Tarim River, northwest China, have been undergoing alterations due to water use by human or climate change, which is expected to influence the riparian forest dominated by an old poplar, Populus euphratica. To evaluate the effects of such habitat alterations, we examined photosynthetic and growth performances of P. euphratica seedlings across experimental soil water and salinity gradients. Results indicated that seedlings were limited in their physiological performance, as evidenced by decreases in their height and biomass, and the maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry (Fv/Fm), the effective quantum-use efficiency of PSII (Fv′/Fm′), and photochemical quenching (qP) under mild (18% soil water content, SWC; 18.3 g kg−1 soil salt content, SSC) and moderate (13% SWC, 22.5 g kg−1 SSC) water or salinity stress. However, seedlings had higher root/shoot ratio (R/S), increased nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), and water-use efficiency (WUE) relative to control under such conditions. Under severe (8% SWC, 27.9 g kg−1 SSC) water or salinity stress, P. euphratica seedlings had only a fifth of biomass of those under control conditions. It was also associated with damaged PSII and decreases in WUE, the maximal net photosynthetic rate (P Nmax), light-saturation point (LSP), and apparent quantum yield (α). Our results suggested that the soil conditions, where P.euphratica seedlings could grow normally, were higher than ∼ 13% for SWC, and lower than ∼22.5 g kg−1 for SSC, the values, within the seedlings could acclimate to water or salinity stress by adjusting their R/S ratio, improving WUE to limit water loss, and rising NPQ to dissipate excessive excitation energy. Once SWC was lower than 8% or SCC higher than ∼28 g kg−1, the seedlings suffered from the severe stress.

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Abbreviations

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

Chl:

chlorophyll

E :

transpiration rate

Fm :

maximal fluorescence in dark-adapted state

Fm′:

maximal fluorescence in light-adapted state

Fs :

steady-state fluorescence yield

Fv/Fm :

maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

Fv′/Fm′:

effective quantum use efficiency of PSII

F0 :

minimal fluorescence in dark-adapted state

F0′:

minimal fluorescence in light-adapted state

g s :

stomatal conductance

LCP:

light-compensation point

LSP:

light-saturation point

L s :

stomatal limitation

NPQ:

nonphotochemical quenching

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

P Nmax :

leaf maximal net photosynthetic rate

PPFD:

photosynthetic photon flux density

PSII:

photosystem II

qp :

photochemical quenching

R D :

respiration rate

R/S:

root/shoot ratio

SWC:

soil water content

SSC:

soil salt content

WUE:

water-use efficiency

α:

apparent quantum yield

θ:

the convexity of the light-response curve

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Scienes, Urumqi, 830011, China

    J. Y. Li, C. Y. Zhao, J. Li, B. Yu & M. Han

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    J. Y. Li, B. Yu & M. Han

  3. General Station of Water and Soil Conversation and Ecoenvironmental Monitoring of Xinjiang, Urumqi, 830000, China

    Y. Y. Yan

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  1. J. Y. Li
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  2. C. Y. Zhao
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  3. J. Li
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  4. Y. Y. Yan
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Correspondence to C. Y. Zhao.

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Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to anonymous referees for valuable comments and helpful suggestions. The authors would like to thank editors for editing the paper and correcting the language. The authors thank D.Y.Sun, G.Peng, B.S.Ye, for assistance. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 40830640), the Western Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XBBS200807), and the Key State Program of China (973 Program No. 2013CB429905).

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Li, J.Y., Zhao, C.Y., Li, J. et al. Growth and leaf gas exchange in Populus euphratica across soil water and salinity gradients. Photosynthetica 51, 321–329 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-013-0028-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-013-0028-z

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