Populus euphratica Oliv. is of high salinity tolerance and used as a model species for investigating molecular mechanisms of trees＇ responses to salt stress. In the work presented here we found that calli of P. euphratica grew more rapidly and accumulated less Na＋, but more K＋, under salt stress than those of salt-sensitive poplar, Populus hopeiensis. Different types of Na＋/H＋ antiporters （SOS1, NhaD1 and NHX1） were isolated from P. euphratica; all of these genes have been shown to play important roles in plant salt tolerance mechanism in previous studies. Expression profiles of these three genes were compared between P. hopeiensis and P. euphratica in the presence and absence of salt stress by real-time PCR. The three genes were induced in both P. euphratica and P. hopeiensis by salt. Transcript levels of PeNHX1 were lower in P. euphratica than in P. hopeiensis under 150 mM NaCl stress. In addition, transcript levels of PeNhaD1 were lower, while PeSOS1 were higher in P. euphratica than in P. hopeiensis under both stressed and unstressed conditions. The results indicated that P. euphratica up-regulates different genes and consistently maintains both effluxes of Na＋ and high K＋ levels. Our data suggests that differences in gene expression patterns may contribute to the dif-ference in salt tolerance between these two poplars.
Seasonal and microhabitat variations of chemical constituents of foliar organic carbon （C）, total nitrogen （N）, total phosphorus （P）, and total potassium （K）, in Populus euphratica growing in desert riparian forests in northwestern China and their correlations were studied. Results show that ranges of C, N, P and K contents in the leaves ofP. euphratica were 39.08%-46.16%, 0.28%-2.81%, 0.05%-0.18% and 0.35%-2.03%, with means of 43.51%, 1.49%, 0.102% and 1.17%, respectively. The ratio of C/N, C/P and N/P changed from 16.26 to 146.61, from 258.08 to 908.67 and from 2.89 to 26.67; the mean was 37.24, 466.27 and 15.14, respectively. The mean N content was significantly lower than of deciduous trees in China, but the mean P content was nearly equivalent. The ratio of C/N was remarkably higher than of global land plants. The ratio of N/P indicated that growth ofP. euphratica was jointly limited by N and P nutrient deficiency. During the growth season, total trends of leaf C, N, P and K contents decreased. The max- imum appeared in May, and the minimum in September. Among microhabitats, C, N and K contents gradually increased from ri- parian lowland, flatland, sandpile, Gobi and dune, but C/N ratio was opposite, and P content was not apparent. Foliar C content was extremely, significantly and positively correlated with N and K contents, respectively. The relationships of N-K and P-K were both significantly positive.
Spatial variation in soil surface CO2 efflux was measured in a stand of Populus euphratica in the Ejina Oasis of desert riparian forest in the extreme arid region in northwestern China from April 2007 through October 2007.Measurements were taken with a gas-exchange analyzer linked to a soil-respiration chamber.The mean soil CO2 efflux in the stand was 2.71 μmol/(m2·s) during the growing season and 1.38 μmol/(m2·s) in the nongrowing season.The seasonal maximum (end of May through early June) andminimum (October) CO2 efflux were 3.38 and 0.69 μmol/(m2·s),respectively.The diurnal fluctuation of CO2 efflux was relatively small (< 20 percent),with theminimum appearing around 05:00 and the maximum around 15:00.Linear regression analysis showed soil-surface CO2 efflux to be most highly correlated with soil temperature (R2=0.435) and soil moisture (R2=0.213).When all variables were considered simultaneously,only soil temperature (R2=0.378),soil moisture (R2=0.147),and root volume density (R2=0.021) explained a significant amount of variance in soil surface CO2 efflux.Stand volumes were not correlated with soil CO2 efflux on our sites.
ZongQiang Chang,Qi Feng,YongHong Su,JianHua Si, HaiYang Xi,ShengKui Cao,Rui Guo Alashan Desert Eco-Hydrology Experimental Research Station,Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China.
To characterize the groundwater in the Ejina Basin,surface and groundwater samples were collected in May and October of 2002.On-site analyses included temperature,electrical conductance(EC),total alkalinity(as HCO 3) by titration,and pH.Chemical analyses were undertaken at the Geochemistry Laboratory of the Cold and Arid Region Environmental and Engineering Institute,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou,China.The pH of the groundwater ranged from 7.18 to 8.90 with an average value of 7.72,indicating an alkaline nature.The total dissolved solids(TDS) of the groundwater ranged from 567.5 to 5,954.4 mg/L with an average of 1,543.1 mg/L and a standard deviation of 1,471.8 mg/L.According to the groundwater salinity classification of Robinove et al.(1958),47.4 percent of the samples were brackish and the remainder were fresh water.The ion concentration of the groundwater along the riverbed and near the southern margin of the basin were lower than those farther away from the riverbed.The groundwater in the study area was of Na +-HCO 3 type near the bank of the Heihe River and in the southern margin of the basin,while Na +-SO 4 2-Cl type samples were observed in the terminal lake region.In the desert area the groundwater reached a TDS of 3,000-6,000 mg/L and was predominantly by a Na +-Cl chemistry.Br/Cl for the water of Ejina Basin indicates an evaporite origin for the groundwater with a strongly depleted Br/Cl ratio(average 0.000484).The surface water was slightly enriched in Br/Cl(average 0.000711) compared with groundwater.The calculated saturation index(SI) for calcite and dolomite of the groundwater samples range from 0.89 to 1.31 and 1.67 to 2.67 with averaged 0.24 and 0.61,respectively.About 97 percent of the groundwater samples were kinetically oversaturated with respect to calcite and dolomite,and all the samples were below the equilibrium state with gypsum.Using isotope and hydrochemical analyses,this study investigated the groundwater evolution and its residence time.The groundwater content was mainly determin
