This article was downloaded by: [University of California Santa Cruz]On: 20 November 2014, At: 22:24Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number:1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Plant NutritionPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lpla20

Irrigation water quality andion balance in leaves ofdeciduous ornamental treesTanya M. Quist a & C. Frank Williams aa Department of Agronomy and Horticulture ,Brigham Young University , Provo, UT, 84602Published online: 21 Nov 2008.

To cite this article: Tanya M. Quist & C. Frank Williams (1999) Irrigation waterquality and ion balance in leaves of deciduous ornamental trees, Journal ofPlant Nutrition, 22:6, 1011-1019, DOI: 10.1080/01904169909365690

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01904169909365690

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JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION, 22(6), 1011-1019 (1999)

Irrigation Water Quality and Ion Balance inLeaves of Deciduous Ornamental Trees

Tanya M. Quist and C. Frank Williams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Brigham Young University, Provo,UT 84602

ABSTRACT

In arid and semi-arid regions, evaporation losses exceed replenishment fromfresh water tributaries reducing water quality due to accumulation of salts.Increasing human demand for high-quality waters has encouraged use of low-quality, nonpotable water for landscape and agricultural irrigation. However,when used alone for irrigation, growth and appearance of some woodyornamentals are negatively impacted. To date, little is known of the impacts oflow-quality water on ion uptake and salt tolerance of most ornamental plants.Three replications of five deciduous ornamental trees were randomly plantedand treated with three blended irrigation waters of high-, medium-, and low-quality water [15, 80, and 120 mg sodium (Na) L1, respectively] in a split-plotdesign. Leaf tissues were sampled on October 1996 and September 1997 andanalyzed for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca),magnesium (Mg), Na, zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and copper (Cu).The five tree species varied in their responses to irrigation treatment withwater of decreasing quality with some having increasing and others decreasingcontents of a specific nutrient element. Further, although impact of low-quality water was evident, none of the minerals tested were in the deficient ortoxic range.

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Copyright © 1999 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com

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INTRODUCTION

Plant salt tolerance is related to its ability to regulate ion balance internally inresponse to decreasing soil osmotic potential which minimizes plant metabolicdisruption (Flowers and Yeo, 1977; Oertli, 1968). In some cases, ions, such as Na,K, and chloride (Cl), may be directly harmful and must be carefully regulated by theplant to avoid toxicities. In many other cases, however, ion concentrations withinplant tissues depend on complex interactions between both internal and externalfactors (Flowers and Yeo, 1986).

Ion concentrations within plants and in soil, due to irrigation with water high insalts, results in competitive interactions between ions, thereby altering ionic balancewithin plants and ultimately resulting in nutrient element deficiencies or toxicities.Additionally, plant growth response to ion concentrations is widely variable. Whilesome plants may accumulate very high concentrations of potentially toxic ionsand suffer minor reductions in growth or appearance, others are heavily impacted.Lace fern (Athyrium filix-feminina Roth.) irrigated with régénérant wastewateraccumulated an extremely high concentration of Cl, representing a 65-fold increase,suffered severe reductions in growth and appearance (Wu et al., 1995). In contrast,hydrangea {Hydrangea macrophylla Ser.) which also had a high Cl concentrationrepresenting a 28-fold increase, was not affected by the wastewater in its growth orappearance (Wu et al., 1995). It has been suggested that hydrangea was able toalleviate symptoms of Cl toxicity with high Ca concentrations indicating, perhaps,a differential uptake mechanism regulating Ca and Cl uptake in the nine woodyplants studied (Wu et al., 1995). Non-woody agricultural plants have demonstratedthat their tolerance to low-quality water is related to maintenance of ion ratios. Saltsensitivity in annual sweetclover [Melilotus segetalis (Brot.) Ser.] has been shownto be strongly related to increased Na and Cl concentrations and a decreased Kconcentration (Maranon et al., 1990). In other cases, differential uptake mechanismshave not been identified, salt tolerance is attributed to competitive interactionsbetween ions. In carrot (Daucus carota) cells exposed to salinity stress imposedby sodium chloride (NaCl) and polyethylene glycol showed decreased levels of Kdue to competitive interaction of Na and K (Bachmann, 1990). Salt-tolerant sorghum(Sorghum bicolor), when exposed to increasingly saline conditions, demonstratedexclusion ofNatoapoint (Boursier and Lauchi, 1990). However, when this exclusionmechanism broke down and cellular Na concentrations rose substantially, Kconcentrations also rapidly decreased (Boursier and Lauchi, 1990). This supportsthe idea that the nature of competitive interactions in plants is associated with thatplant's ability to tolerate saline conditions. Additional support for this relationshipcan be seen in considering the interactions that take place between Ca and Na (LaHaye and Epstein, 1971 ; Lauchi and Epstein, 1984), K and Mg (Mengel and Kirkby,1987), and P content and soil salinity (Ansari and Ahmed, 1978; Bachmann, 1990;Hussainetal., 1995).

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IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY AND ION BALANCE IN LEAVES 1013

This study was conducted to determine the effect of three irrigation waters ofvarying quality on the ion concentrations in leaf tissue of five deciduous ornamentaltrees.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An area 1,200 m2 was selected which was level, isolated from interfering shade,and of uniform nutrient status and uniform texture to a depth of 45 cni. A sprinklersystem was installed to allow carefully regulated blending of Utah Lake canalwater and culinary water.

The experiment was a split-plot design. Each plot within a replication containedeach of the five deciduous and seven evergreen species (not studied) which wererandomly assigned within each plot. Twelve plants were spaced 1.7 m apart in 44.4m2 plots with a 5-m border between blocks to eliminate overspray or contaminationbetween adjacent treatments.

In October 1995, one plant of each of the following deciduous trees wastransplanted into each of the nine plots from 18-L containers: thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia tricanthos inermis), purple leaf flowering plum {Prunus cerasiferaatropurpúrea), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica lanceolata), 'Aristocrat' pear(Pyrus calleryana), and little-leaf linden (Tiliaeuropaea). All were allowed tobecome established over a seven-month period and treatment watering beganMay 25,1996.

Three irrigation treatments, high-, medium-, and low-quality water, were design-ated based on their Na concentrations of 15, 80, and 120 mg L 1 (representingsalinity levels of 300,980, and 2,100 mS cm1), respectively. Irrigation with thesethree treatments was achieved using an automatic sprinkler valve, operated from apump timer which supplied culinary water to the control treatment and a blend ofculinary and Utah Lake water from the canal on each of the other two treatments.Analysis of canal water was made weekly to determine the blending ratio for eachweek. Consequently, a consistent Na level was maintained in the treatments.

Leaf samples were taken on October 1,1996 and September 17,1997 from alldeciduous trees at a uniform height from the middle to tip of an unmarked branch.Treatment irrigation was applied using low profile sprinklers such that leaves didnot need rinsing. Leaves were dried at 65°C for at least 48 hours and ground witha stainless steel Wiley mill.

Samples were tested for N, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu. Nitrogenwas run using the RFA300 AutoAnalyzer after digesting the plant samples insulfuric acid (H2SO4) according to Method 7.025 outlined in the Official Methodsof Analysis (Horwitz, 1980). All other essential nutrients in leaf tissues, includingK, Na, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Cu were run using the wet ash procedure for plantsusing a nitric (HNO3)-perchloric (HC1O4) acid digestion followed by analysis onthe Perkin-Elmer 5000 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer as described inMethod 3.007b in the Official Methods of Analysis (Horwitz, 1980).

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1014 QUIST AND WILLIAMS

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u

70High-quality waterMedium-quality waterLow-quality water

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Locust Ash Plum Linden Pear

FIGURE 1. Mean Zn concentration in five species treated with high-, medium-, and low-quality water. LSD (.05) was used to compare high-quality with either medium- or low-quality water.

Analysis of variance was run using SAS PROC GLM for data collected in both1996 and 1997. Analysis for these ions was then done within plant and withintreatment using SAS PROC SORT. Analysis of variance for Mn data from bothyears was then done within date.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Leaf Zn, Mn, Mg, and K concentrations were each significantly affected bywater quality in at least one species (Figures 1-4, respectively). Zinc concentrationsin plants treated with medium-quality water were not significantly different fromthe concentrations in control plants for any species. Irrigating with low-qualitywater increased Zn concentrations in honey locust compared to control plants,but all other species were unaffected. Although the mean Zn concentration inhoney locust control plants (49 mg L'1) is higher than the sufficiency range for thisspecies (17-25 mg I/1), Zn content in honey locust plants irrigated with medium-and low-quality water did not exceed 62 mg L"1. This is well below toxic levelswhich are normally greater than 200 mg L1 (Mills and Jones, 1996).

Effect of treatment irrigation on Mn content in leaf tissues was different in 1996compared to 1997. In 1996, only ash leafMn content was not significantly affectedby the irrigation treatments. Manganese concentrations in honey locust and pearincreased while Mn concentration in linden significantly (0.01) decreased whenirrigated with medium-quality water relative to control plants receiving high-quality

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IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY AND ION BALANCE IN LEAVES 1015

oo

Ôc

I

350-

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200-

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D High-Quality Water0 Medium-Quality Water• Low-Quality Water

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11ir1Honey Locust Ash Plum Linden Pear

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High-Quality WaterMedium-Quality WaterLow-Quality Water

Honey Locust Ash Plum Linden Pear

FIGURE 2. Mean Mn concentration of leaves collected in 1996 and 1997 from fivespecies treated with high-, medium-, and low-quality water. LSD (.01 ) was used to comparehigh-quality with either medium- or low-quality water.

water. Manganese content in plum trees irrigated with medium-quality water wasnot significantly different than control plants. When irrigated with low-qualitywater, Mn concentration in honey locust and plum were significantly (0.01) higherwhile linden was significantly (0.01) lower relative to the control. Manganesecontent in pear irrigated with low-quality water was not significantly different thancontrol plants. For plants significantly affected by irrigation with medium- andlow-quality water in 1996, Mn concentration changed by 131% and 113%,respectively.

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1016 QUIST AND WILLIAMS

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10-

High-quality waterMedium-quality waterLow-quality water

Locust Ash Plum Linden Pear

FIGURE 3. Mean leaf Mg concentration in five species treated with high-, medium-, andlow-quality water. LSD (.05) was used to compare high-quality with either medium- orlow-quality water.

In 1997, Mn concentration in all species were significantly (0.01) higher than thecontrol when irrigated with medium-quality water with increased Mn concentrationsrepresenting an average increase of 168% compared to control. When irrigatedwith low-quality water, only ash contained significantly (0.01) lower Mnconcentrations than control plants. All other species irrigated with low-qualitywater had significant (0.01) increases in Mn content with average increases of200% compared to control.

Although Mn concentrations in all species during both years exceeded levelsdefined within the sufficiency range ( 10-50 mg L'1), Mn concentrations were belowthe toxicity level (>275 mg I/1) for all irrigation treatments (Mills and Jones, 1996).

Magnesium concentrations in all plants were significantly different from thecontrol plants for at least one of the irrigation treatments. Irrigating with medium-quality water increased Mg concentrations in both honey locust and linden, butdid not affect Mg concentrations in ash, plum, and pear compared to the control.Irrigating with low-quality water increased Mg concentrations in honey locust,linden, and pear and decreased Mg content in plum and ash. Although Mg was inexcess of values in the sufficiency range ( 15-40 g L"1) in all cases, it is unlikely thatplants growing in field conditions will ever experience Mg toxicity (Mills andJones, 1996).

Irrigating with medium-quality water increased K concentration in plum, but hadno effect on all other species. Potassium content in honey locust and lindendecreased when irrigated with low-quality water, but increased in ash. Potassium

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IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY AND ION BALANCE IN LEAVES 1017

30-

25-

High-quality waterMedium-quality waterLow-quality water

NS

Locust Ash Plum Linden Pear

FIGURE 4. Mean leaf K concentration in five species treated with high-, medium-, andlow-quality water. LSD (.05) was used to compare high-quality with either medium- orlow-quality water.

values for all treatments for ash and linden were all within the sufficiency range forthese plants (92-150 g L1 and 32 and 356 g L1, respectively). Honey locust plantsfor all irrigation treatments had K concentrations below the sufficiency range (110-265 g L"1) and may have suffered K deficiency with severity increasing as water-quality decreased. Pear was not affected by treatment irrigation.

There were no significant differences between plants treated with medium- andlow-quality water relative to the plants grown with high-quality water for Fe, Cu,Na,P,andN.

CONCLUSIONS

Although effect of decreasing water-quality was minimal and did not result insufficient impact on ion concentrations to produce toxicities or deficiencies, move-ment in response to irrigation treatment is clear. In general, the trend in responseto treatment irrigation indicates some justification for further investigation of theeffects on ion concentration due to irrigation with water of greater salinity (>2,100mScm1).

High levels of K have been found to depress Mg content in leaves of differentplant organs to different degrees (Mengel and Kirkby, 1987). In this study, ash,plum, and pear which contained high levels of K, may have resulted in depressedMg uptake. This interaction merits further study due to the potentially severeimpact of Mg deficiency given its importance as a cofactor in many enzyme and its

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1018 QUIST AMD WILLIAMS

association with organic acids such as malate and citrate. Further, it could besuggested, given the important role of K in water relations, that determining thecorrelation between K concentrations and growth and appearance of deciduouswoody ornamentals in response to salinity might be a useful predictive tool indetermining salinity tolerance in these plants.

Finally, further work is suggested to compare species for ion regulation inresponse to salinity since the five species used in this study could consistently bedivided into two groups in their uptake response. For example, Zn concentrationsin honey locust and pear and K content in plum and pear were significantly (0.05)higher than all other plants regardless of irrigation treatment (data not shown). Itmay be possible that consistent ion uptake patterns might be identified whichcould be linked to the salt tolerance mechanisms for that plant.

REFERENCES

Ansari, R. and S. Ahmed. 1978. Salt tolerance studies in plants. pp. 65-81. In: Proceedingsof the Workshop/Seminar on Membrane Biophysics and Salt Tolerance in Plants.University Agricultural Press, Faislabad, Pakistan.

Bachmann, E.W. 1990. Ionic balance and osmotic status in carrot (Daucus carota) cellsuspensions grown under sodium chloride, osmotic and water stress: Plant nutrition,physiology and applications. pp. 495-499. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht,The Netherlands.

Boursier, P. and A. Lauchi. 1990. Growth responses and mineral nutrition relations of salt-stressed sorghum. Crop Sci. 30:1226-1233.

Flowers, T.J. and A.R. Yeo. 1977. The mechanisms of salt tolerance in halophytes. Annu.Rev. Plant Physiol. 28:89-121.

Flowers, T.J. and A.R. Yeo. 1986. Ion relations of plants under drought and salinity.Australian J. Plant Physiol. 13:75-91.

Horwitz, H. (ed.). 1980. Official Methods of Analysis. 13th ed. Association of OfficialAnalytical Chemists, Washington, DC.

Hussain, G., A.A. Al-Jaloua, S.F. Al-Shammary, and S. Karimulla. 1995. Effect of salineirrigation of the biomass yield, and the protein, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassiumcomposition of alfalfa in a pot experiment. J. Plant Nutr. 18(11):2389-2408.

La Haye, P.A. and E. Epstein. 1971. Calcium and salt tolerance by bean plants. PlantPhysiol. 25:213-218.

Lauchi, A. and E. Epstein. 1984. Mechanisms of salt tolerance in plants. California Agric.,October 1984.

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Maranon, T.J., M. Romero, and J.M. Murillo. 1990. Sodium, chloride and potassiumallocation in an annual sweetclover (Melilotus segetalis) from the Guadalquivar saltmarsh in southwest Spain: Plant nutrition, physiology and applications. pp. 477-480.Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Mengel, K. and E.A. Kirkby. 1987. Principles of Plant Nutrition. International PotashInstitute, Bern, Switzerland.

Mills, H.A. and J.B. Jones, Jr. 1996. Plant Analysis Handbook. II. MicroMacro Publishing,Inc., Athens, GA.

Oertli, J.J. 1968. Extracellular salt accumulation, a possible mechanism of salt injury inplants. Agrochimica 12:727-737.

Wu, L., J. Chen, H. Lin, P. Van Mantgem, M.A. Harivandi, and J.A. Harding. 1995. Effectsof regenerant wastewater irrigation on growth and ion uptake of landscape plants. J.Environ. Hort. 13(2):92-96.

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