Effect of soil salinity on the wheat and bean root respiration rate at low matric suctions

Abstract

Water logging and salinity often occur together because rising water table brings salt to the surface. We studied the effects of a range of low soil matric suctions (or nearly paddy condition) (2–33 kPa) and salinity (EC = 0.7–8 dS m−1 for bean and 2–20 dS m−1 for wheat) on the root respiration (Rr) in two sandy loam and clay loam soils at greenhouse condition. Results showed that the aeration porosity mainly controls Rr especially at 2 kPa matric suction. As matric suction increases, soil aeration rises and consequently the Rr reaches maximum values (7.9 μmol m−3 s−1 for bean and wheat) at 6 and 10 kPa suctions in clay loam and sandy loam soils, respectively. Using a mechanistic soil respiration model reveals that these matric suctions, h, are corresponded to the aeration porosities of 0.18 m3 m−3 in sandy loam and 0.16 m3 m−3 in clay loam soils. Bean and wheat Rr remains nearly constant at higher suctions (h > 10 kPa) in sandy loam and decreases slightly in clay loam soil. Gas diffusivity and the root surface area may explain the variation of the Rr between the sandy loam and the clay loam soils. Results showed that the salinity (EC = 6–8 dS m−1 for bean and EC = 16–20 dS m−1 for wheat) amplifies the effect of aeration stress at 2 kPa matric suction in both soils. We also observed a strong correlation between root surface area, Rs, and the Rr for all experiments. We concluded that the aeration deficit is not only major factor determining differential plant respiration under adverse stress conditions, and the salinity has a pronounced impact on differences in crop physiological responses.