The Combined Effects of Salinity and Drought on Young Almond Trees and Physiological Parameters

Abstract

In drought years, almond growers have to restrict fresh water application, either stressing the trees with inadequate water or adding saline water and reducing water stress but causing salt stress. Tree response to combined water and salt stress are critical consideration on management decisions but there is no appropriate information currently. That’s why, it was investigated the water and salt stress and combined water-salt stress on two almond varieties in a two year (2015 and 2016) outdoor experiment with young trees. Trees were 1 year old at the beginning of the experiment. The experiment was conducted USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Salinity Laboratory, Riverside, California, USA. Drought treatments consisted of 100%, 80% and 60% of tree evapotranspiration (ET) and salt treatments of Electrical Conductivity (EC= 0.55, 1.20, 2.40 and 3.0 dS m-1), for a total of 120 trees in twelve treatments with two varieties and five replicates. We examined water use, trunk diameter and physiological parameters (leaf net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and leaf water potential). Photosynthetic rate values (Pn) ranged between 3.53 and 11.08 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1 for Nonpareil and 4.58 and 9.48 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1 for Aldridge. Stomatal conductance values ranged between 0.076 and 0.283 mol H2O m-2 s-1 for Nonpareil and 0.097 and 0.302 for Aldridge. All parameters showed significant decline starting at 80% water application and EC 1.2 dS m-1. In terms of growth rather than survival, almond was sensitive to water as well as salt stress. We evaluated combined stress using three stress response models: additive stress, dominant stress model and a multiplicative stress model where the predicted growth loss is obtained by multiplying the relative growth response for the individual stresses. Equation (2) for reduction in trunk growth were developed for treatments with either salinity only or water only stress. Both varieties grafted to Nemaguard rootstock were very sensitive to salinity with growth loss starting at EC 1.2 dS m-1. The results indicate that the Nonpareil is more sensitive to drought and salt stress than Aldridge. Aldridge almond variety can be recommended for areas where water supplies are scarce and salinized.

Keywords

• almond
• combined stress
• photosynthesis
• stomatal conductance
• trunk growth

References

1. Anjum S A, Xie X, Wang L, Saleem M F, Man C & Lei W (2011). Morphological, physiological and biochemical responses of plants to drought stress. African Journal of Agricultural Research 6: 2026-2032. DOI: 10.5897/AJAR10.027
2. Ashraf, M & Foolad M R (2007). Roles of glycine betaine and proline in improving plant abiotic stress resistance. Environmental and Experimental Botany 59(2): 206-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2005.12.006
3. Ashraf M (2004). Some important physiological selection criteria for salt tolerance in plants. Flora 199: 361-376
4. Doll D & Shackel K (2015). Drought Management for California Almonds. University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 8515, 10 p.
5. Dudley L M & Shani U (2003). Modeling plant response to drought and salt stress: reformulation of the root-sink term. Vadose Zone Journal 2: 751-758
6. Düzdemir O, Ünlükara A & Kurunç A (2009). Response of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) to salinity and irrigation regimes. New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science 37(3): 271-280
7. El-Motaium R, Hu H & Brown P H (1994). The relative tolerance of six Prunus rootstocks to boron and salinity. Journal of American Society for Horticultural Science 119: 1169-1175
8. FAO (2020). Almon production. Retrieved in September , 10, 2020 from http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC

9. Fereres E & Goldhamer D A (1990). Deciduous fruit and nut trees. In: Irrigation of agricultural crops, Agronomy 30, Madison, WI, ASA, CSSA, SSSA, pp. 987-1017
10. Germana C, Cutore L & Sardo V (2000). Assessing tolerance to irrigation water salinity in five woody plants. In: Special Session on Nonconventional Water Resources Practices and Management and Annual Meeting, UWRM Sub-Network Partners, IAV Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco, pp. 151-159
11. Gomes-Laranjo J, Coutinho J P, Galhano V & Cordeiro V (2006). Responses of five almond cultivars to irrigation: photosynthesis and leaf water potential. Agricultural Water Management 83: 261-265
12. Gisperta J R, Vargas F J, Miarnau F J & Alegre F J (2011). Assessment of drought tolerance in almond varieties. In: Proceeding Vth IS on Pistachios and Almonds, Acta Hort. 912, ISHS, pp. 121-128.
13. Grieve C M, Grattan S G & Maas E V (2012). Plant salt tolerance. Chapter 13 In Wallender, W.W, Tanji, K.K. eds). Agricultural Salinity Assessment and Management, ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice No. 71. American Society of Civil Engineers Reston Virgina, USA
14. Huang C, Liu X, Wang Z, Liang Z, Wang M, Liu M & Suarez D L (2017). Interactive effects of pH, EC, and nitrogen on yields and nutrient absorption of rice (Oryza sativa L. Agricultural Water management 194: 48-57
15. Isaakidis A, Sotiropoulos D, Almaliotis D, Therios I & Stylianidis D (2004). Response to severe water stress of the almond (Prunus amygdalus) ’Ferragnès’ grafted on eight rootstocks. New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science 32: 355-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/01140671.2004.9514316
16. Karimi S, Yadollah A, Arzani K, Imani A & Aghaalikhani M (2015). Gas-exchange response of almond genotypes to water stress. Photosynthetica 53: 29-34 DOI: 10.1007/s11099-015-0070-0
17. Maas E V & Hoffman G J (1977). Crop salt tolerance: current assessment. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 103: 115-134
18. Momenpour A, Imani A, Bakhshi D & Abkbarpour E (2018). Evaluation of salinity tolerance of some selected almond genotypes budded on GF677 rootstock. International Journal of Fruit Science 18(4): 410-435. doi/org/10.1080/15538362.2018.1468850
19. Munns, R & Tester M (2008). Mechanisms of salinity tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Biology 59: 651-681 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092911
20. Murkute A A, Sharma S & Singh S K (2005). Citrus in terms of soil and water salinity: A review. Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research 64: 393-402
21. Ottman Y & Byrne D H (1988). Screening rootstocks of Prunus for relative salt tolerance. Horticultural Science 23(2): 375 -378
22. Önder S, Kanber R, Önder D, Kapur B (2005). The differences of possibility of global climate changing on irrigation meth¬ods and management techniques. In: GAP IV. Congress of Agriculture, 21-23 September, Şanlıurfa, Turkey. pp. 1128-1135
23. Örs S & Suarez D L (2017). Spinach biomass yield and physiological response to interactive salinity and water stress. Agricultural Water Management 190: 31-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2017.05.003
24. Pitman M G & Läuchli A (2002). Global ımpact of salinity and agricultural ecosystems. In: Läuchli A., Lüttge U. (eds) Salinity: Environment-Plants-Molecules. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48155-3_1
25. Romero P, Botia P & Garcia F (2004). Effects of regulated deficit irrigation under subsurface drip irrigation conditions on vegetative development and yield of mature almond trees. Plant and Soil 260: 169-181. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000030193.23588.99
26. Sandhu D. Kaundal A, Acharya B R, Forrest T, Pudussery M V, Liu X, Ferreira J R F S & Suarez D L (2020). Linking diverse salinity responses of 14 almond rootstocks with physiological biochemical, and genetic determinants. Scientific Reports. 10. 21087. doi.org.1038/s41598-20-78036-4
27. Sayed O H (2003). Chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool in cereal crop research. Photosynthetica 41: 321-330 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PHOT.0000015454.36367.e2
28. Shibli R A, Shatnawi M A & Swaidat I Q (2003). Growth, osmotic adjustment and nutrient acquisition of bitter Almond under induced sodium chloride salinity in vitro. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 34(13-14): 1969-1979. https://doi.org/10.1081/CSS-120023231
29. Sibole J V, Montero E, Cabot C & Poschenrieder C B (1998). Role of sodium in the ABA-mediated long-term growth response of bean to salt stress. Physiology of Plant 104: 299-305. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1399-3054.1998.1040302.x
30. Smith T E, Grattan S R, Grieve C M, Poss J A & Suarez D L (2010). Salinity’s influence on boron toxicityin broccoli: 1. Impacts on yield, biomass distribution and water use. Agricultural. Water Management 97: 777-782. DOI:10.1016/j.agwat.2010.01.014
31. Suarez D L (2012). Irrigation water quality assessments. Chapter 11, In: Agricultural Salinity Assessment and Management. 2nd Ed. Wallender, WW and Tanji KK (Ed), ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice No:71, NY.
32. Suarez D L & Simunek J (1996). Solute transport modeling under variably saturated water flow conditions, in: Lichtner, P.C., Steefel C.I., Oelkers, E.H. ( Eds.), Reactive Transport in Porus Media, pp. 229-268.
33. Torrecillas A, Alarcon J J, Domingo R, Planes J & Sanchez-Blanco M J (1996). Strategies for drought resistance in leaves of two almond cultivars. Plant Science 118(2): 135–143 https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-9452(96)04434-2
34. Torrecillas A, Galego R, Perez-Pastor A & Ruiz-Sanchez M C (1999). Gas exchange and water relations of young apricot plants under drought conditions. Journal of Agricultural Science 132(4): 445-452. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021859699006577
35. Tuteja N (2007). Mechanisms of high salinity tolerance in plants. Methods in Enzymology 38: 419-428. DOI: 10.1016/S0076-6879(07)28024-3
36. Yang L S, Yano T, Aydın M, Kitamura Y & Takeuchi S (2002). Short term effects of saline irrigation on evapotranspiration from lysimeter grown citrus trees. Agricultural Water Management 56: 131-141
37. Zrig A, Ben Mohamed H, Tounekti T, Ennajeh M, Valero D & Khemira H (2015). A Comparative study of salt tolerance of three almond rootstocks: contribution of organic and inorganic solutes to osmotic adjustment. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 17: 675-689
38. Zrig A, Ben Mohamed H, Tounekti Khemira H, Serrano M & Khemira H (2016). Effect of rootstock on salinity tolerance of sweet almond (cv. Mazzetto). South African Journal of Botany 102: 50-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2015.09.001