Growth, biomass production and ions accumulation in Atriplex nummularia Lindl grown under abiotic stress

Crescimento, produção de biomassa e acumulação de íons em Atriplex cultivada sob estresses abióticos

ABSTRACT

Atriplex nummularia is a halophyte of great importance in the recovery of saline soils and is considered as a model plant to study biosaline scenarios. This study aimed to evaluate biometric parameters, biomass production and the accumulation of ions in A. nummularia grown under abiotic stresses. Cultivation was carried out in a Fluvic Neosol for 100 days, adopting two water regimes: 37 and 70% of field capacity. Plants were irrigated with saline solutions containing two types of salts (NaCl and a mixture of NaCl, KCl, MgCl₂ and CaCl₂) at six levels of electrical conductivity: 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 dS m^-1, arranged in a 6 x 2 x 2 factorial with 4 replicates, forming 96 plots. At the end of the experiment, plants were divided into leaves, stem and roots, for the determination of fresh matter (FM), dry matter (DM) and estimated leaf area (LA), besides the contents of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl^-. The type of salt did not influence plant growth or biomass production; however, it influenced the levels of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and Cl^- in the leaves and Mg²⁺, K⁺ and Cl^- in the roots. Increase in salinity reduced the contents of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl^- for all treatments.

Key words:
salt extraction; nutritional status; halophytes; Brazilian semiarid