Screening for Salt Tolerant Forage SpeciesConducted by Allison Levy, Undergraduate
Under the Direction of Dr. James Bauder, Professor
Screening for Salt TolerancePhase I
Phase II
Phase III
Research Objectives• Determine survivability and early plant biomass
production sixteen different forage species (phase I & II ).
• Irrigate with water qualities that were chosen to represent conditions of water surface supplies that could result from coal bed methane (CBM) development.
• Define a short list of species that are in a long-term experiment to assess (forage) biomass production potential utilizing CBM x surface water mixes (phase II & III)
• Field scale demo
(phase III)
Plant x Salinity Background
• Osmotic effect
• Glycophytes
•Salinity effects plant growth
-germination
-vegetative growth
-reproductive growth
Background-Plant x Salinity
Germination
• Low salinity stimulates germination (Croser et al., 2001)
• Salinity inhibits germination by limiting water uptake (Croser et al., 2001)
• High amounts of Na, and Cl affect availability of other ions: K, Mg, N or P (Rogers, 1997)
Phase I:Germination Screening
• determine survivability and early plant biomass production of sixteen different forage species
• irrigated with water qualities that represent conditions that could result from CBM development
• Define a short list of species to be used in phase II & III
Water Treatments
E C 2 .5 m m ho s /cmS A R 4
P o w d e r R ive r W a te r
E C 3 .5 m m ho s /cmS A R 12
C B M D ischa rg e W a ter
E C 8 m m ho s /cmS A R 23
S a lin e -S od ic W a te r
• Nine trays.• Dimensions 45 x 35 x
9 inches.• Each tray contained 4
flats.• Each flat had 4 species • 16 species per tray• Three trays per
replication• Within a rep each tray
received one of the three water qualities
• One drainage hole on the bottom side of each tray
Design :
Phase I
• Water reached predetermined level during each irrigation cycle
• Water chemistries applied for five-day intervals discarded and replaced with new 100L stock solution
• Each 100 L stock solution contained 500mL nutrients
Design :Phase 1
Planting
• Sand was selected planting medium.
• Species within each replication were randomized:
-four species per flat
-two rows per species
-twenty seeds per row
Species Used in Screening for Salt Tolerance:Phase I
•Corn Zea mays•Altai Elymus angustus•Tall Wheatgrass Agropyron elongatum•Crested Wheatgrass Agropyron cristatum•Kochia Kochia scorparia•Sorghum Bicolor (L.) moench•Intermediate Wheatgrass Agropyron intermedium•Newhly Wheatgrass Elyrtigia repens x Pseudoroegneria spicata•Tall Fescue Festuca arundinacea•Paiute Orchardgrass Dactylis glomerata L.•Slender Wheatgrass Agropyron trachycaulum•Perennial Ryegrass Lolium perennal•Valier Hordeum valier•Sugarbeets Beta vulgaris L.•Hi Mag Tall Fescue Festuca arundinacea hi mag•2nd Gen. Alfalfa Medicago sativa
Harvest• Five-week germination
period
• Counted plants
• Harvested for above ground biomass
• Plant samples were oven dried
• Samples were weighed
• Sand samples were dried and sent to lab
Analyses
• Post germination soil analyzed for electrical conductivity (salinity), SAR (sodium adsorption ratio), base cations (Na, Ca, and Mg), pH, and bicarbonates
• Species x water quality combination determined
• Determined germination and survivability
Results- ANOVAForage Species Germination Study
ANOVA F valueSource of Variation n Germination BiomassSpecies 16 25.71 *** 62.93 ***Water Quality 3 2.67 * 8.56 ***Species x Water 48 0.77 ns 3.27 ***Replications 3
F values followed by ***, **, * are significant at the 99, 95, 90 % levels.
.
0.000.501.001.502.002.503.003.504.004.505.00
Abo
ve g
roun
d bi
omas
s (g
)
Powder River CBM Saline-sodic
<0.2
* *
*
**
**
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40G
erm
inat
ion
Powder River CBM Saline-sodic
<20
* *
*
*
*
*
*
LSD of Germination Means
24.50
25.00
25.50
26.00
26.50
27.00
27.50
28.00
28.50
29.00
Ger
min
atio
n M
ean
Power River CBM Saline-sodic
A
B B
Means with the same letter are not significantly different
LSD of Biomass Means
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Bio
mas
s M
ean
s
Powder River CBM Saline -sodic
B
A
C
Means with the same letter arenot significantly different
The Short List:
Phase IICorn Zea maysTall fescue Festuca arundunaceaIntermediate wheatgrass Agropyron intermediumSlender wheatgrass Agropyron trachycaulumAltai wildrye Elymus angustusTall wheatgrass Agropyron elongatumValier barley Hordeum valier Sorghum Bicolor (L.) moench
Design : Phase II Short List Greenhouse Experiment
3 replicate randomized block
pot within pot
evaporation pan10% leaching fraction
W a te r T re a tm e n ts
E C 3 .5 m m ho s /cmS A R 12
C B M D ischa rg e W a ter
E C 8 m m ho s /cmS A R 23
S a lin e -sod ic W a te r
Phase II: “Grow Out” Greenhouse Experiment
Planting : Phase IIPlanting medium: sand
Species within each rep were randomized:1 species per pot30 seeds for grasses10 seeds corn20 seeds barley
Harvest
Corn
AltaiWildryeAbove ground biomass
Root mass
Dried & weighed
Sent to lab for analysis
Analyses•Post germination soil analyzed for electrical conductivity (salinity), SAR (sodium adsorption ratio), base cations (Na, Ca, and Mg), pH, and bicarbonates
•Species x water quality combination determined
•Determined germination and survivability
•Plant tissue analyses
Root MassANOVASource of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit
Species 931.39 7.00 133.06 11.33 0.00 2.31Water Quality 385.84 1.00 385.84 32.85 0.00 4.15Species x Water 153.42 7.00 21.92 1.87 0.11 2.31Error 375.87 32.00 11.75
Total 1846.52 47.00ALPHA: 0.05
BiomassANOVA
Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F critSpecies 896.52 7.00 128.07 10.46 0.00 2.31Water Quality 89.54 1.00 89.54 7.31 0.01 4.15Species x water 83.96 7.00 11.99 0.98 0.46 2.31Error 391.73 32.00 12.24
Total 1461.76 47.00ALPHA: 0.05
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
Bio
mas
s (g
ram
s)
CBM Saline-sodic
Dry Weight Above Ground Biomass in Sand
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
Ro
ot
mas
s (g
ram
s)
CBM
Saline-sodic
Dry Weight Root Mass in Sand
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
20.00
Roo
t mas
s (g
ram
s)
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
20.00
Bio
mass (
gra
ms)
CBM Saline-sodic
Irrigated with Saline-sodic Water Sand vs. Clay
0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00
Ab
ove
gro
un
d b
iom
ass
(g)
Sand
Clay
0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00
100.00
Ro
ot
Mas
s (g
)
Sand Clay
Irrigated with Saline-sodic Water
Sand vs. Clay
0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00
100.00
Ro
ot
Mas
s (g
)
Sand Clay
0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00
Ab
ove
gro
un
d b
iom
ass
(g)
Sand
Clay
The Short List:
Phase IIICorn Zea maysTall fescue Festuca arundunaceaIntermediate wheatgrass Agropyron intermediumSlender wheatgrass Agropyron trachycaulumAltai wildrye Elymus angustusTall wheatgrass Agropyron elongatumValier barley Hordeum valier Harrington barley Hordeum harrington Maritime (seacoast) barley Hays barley MT 981060Saltbush Atriplex aptera
Design
Hayes Ranch: Tongue River
Gay Ranch: Powder River
Thanks To:
Dr. James Bauder
The entire “Jimmy clan”
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