Abstract
Key messagePlants use multiple mechanisms to deal with salt stress. Salt stress increases the content of polyprenols inTilia’s leaves, which may mitigate stress.De-icing salt has been used on streets and pavements in most northern countries since the 1960s. Salt stress limits all vital functions of trees. Tilia × euchlora is planted in many cities given its unique decorative qualities. The aim of this study was to determine the tree strategy to mitigate salt stress due to the synthesis of polyprenols in leaves. Many years of observations have demonstrated that trees of the same species growing in the same street conditions may have extremely different health statuses. The study consisted of two experiments: a field experiment with urban street trees growing in saline soils and a controlled pot experiment with young trees exposed to increasing doses of salt. The differences between the young trees from the pot experiment and older trees from the field experiment were expressed in their ability to synthesize polyprenols. In urban conditions, the tree leaves with less damage contained significantly more polyprenols than did those with more damage. The salt stress mitigation strategy may be related to the ability to synthesize polyprenols. This ability can be acquired through adaptation by older trees. The mechanism involves limiting the transport of Cl− and Na+ to leaves. In the pot experiment, the young trees did not exhibit this ability.
Highlights
Urban trees provide a variety of uncountable ecosystem services, such as health, economic, psychological, social, and esthetic services (Dadvand et al 2016; Livesley et al 2016)
In mid-September, 60% of street trees had damage to more than 25% of the leaf surfaces, which indicates the high sensitivity of this species to street conditions
In accordance with previous publications, T. × euchlora exhibited a lack of resistance to urban street conditions
Summary
Urban trees provide a variety of uncountable ecosystem services, such as health, economic, psychological, social, and esthetic services (Dadvand et al 2016; Livesley et al 2016). Healthy trees in good condition can perform these functions to improve the living conditions of city dwellers (Martin et al 2016; Hallett et al 2018). Based on many years of research, McPherson (2004) calculated that statistically one tree growing in an urban area in 40 years of life confers benefits totaling $3.117. Salt stress affects the health of trees at the molecular, cellular, and histological levels. These changes are caused by the combined osmotic stress, which is related to the high osmotic pressure in the salinized soils, and the
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