ACCLIMATIZATION STRATEGY OF TWO COMMON TREE SPECIES UNDER WATER STRESS | [Pakistan Journal of Botany • 2022]

Author(s):

1. ARSALAN ARIF: Department of Forestry Range & Wildlife Management, University College of Agriculture, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,Pakistan

2. FAHAD RASHEED: Department of Forestry & Range Management, Faculty Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad,Pakistan

3. MUHAMMAD SAFDAR HUSSAIN: Department of Forestry & Range Management, Faculty Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad,Pakistan; Department of Forestry & Range Management, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan,Pakistan

4. IRFAN ASHRAF: Department of Forestry Range & Wildlife Management, University College of Agriculture, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,Pakistan

5. MUHAMMAD FARRAKH NAWAZ: Department of Forestry & Range Management, Faculty Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad,Pakistan

6. MUHAMMAD AYYOUB TANVIR: Department of Forestry & Range Management, Faculty Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad,Pakistan

Abstract:

Due to unpredicted climate change and drought spells, changing towards stress-resistant planting material is dire need in the present scenario. The increasing trend of Agroforestry under arid to semi-arid climatic regions can be proved as an important step to mitigate climate change effects and also can reduce pressure on the existing forest resources. Therefore, the present study was planned to evidence the effect of water stress on two introduced and important tree species of central Punjab i.e. Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Conocarpus erectus at their early stages of growth. The experiment was conducted under controlled conditions where plants were subjected to two watering (controlled irrigation and high water-deficit) regimes. The biomass production and allocation in different plant organs (leaves, stem and root) along with growth parameters (plant height, stem diameter, no of leaves) were measured during the experiment. Drought negatively impacted plant height and the number of leaves. However, the plant height of C. erectus was reduced by (17 %) and the number of leaves by 27% under high water-deficit conditions. Similarly, the minimum reduction was noted in stem fresh biomass (1.7%) and root fresh weight (21.68%) for C. erectus under drought conditions. The root biomass production remained unchanged in Eucalyptus camaldulensis (P = 0.079) but biomass allocation was increased with an increase in soil water deficit (p<0.001). The present study revealed that Conocarpus erectus showed effective tolerance mechanisms under water stress; therefore, may be recommended for agroforestry under semi-arid regions.

Page(s): 781-786

DOI: 10.30848/PJB2022-3(14)

Published: Journal: Pakistan Journal of Botany, Volume: 54, Issue: 3, Year: 2022

Keywords:

drought stress , woody plants , Agroforestry and sustainable development , Biomass Production

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