Phragmites australis is the dominant and constructive species among plant communities in the wetlands of the downstream of Yellow River, China. Its morphological characters were high variable in different habitats. Studies on Morphological and RAPD variation of 15 P. australis populations from this region showed that soil salinity was the dominant ecological factor that affected the morphologic...

The possible involvement of apoplastic reactive oxygen species produced by the oxidation of free polyamines in the leaf growth of salinized maize has been studied here. Salt treatment increased the apoplastic spermine and spermidine levels, mainly in the leaf blade elongation zone. The total activity of polyamine oxidase was up to 20-fold higher than that of the copper-containing amine oxidase....

Wollastonia biflora (L.) DC. plants accumulate the osmoprotectant 3-dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), particularly when salinized. DMSP is known to be synthesized in the chloroplast from S-methylmethionine (SMM) imported from the cytosol, but the sizes of the chloroplastic and extrachloroplastic pools of these compounds are unknown. We therefore determined DMSP and SMM in mesophyll protoplasts...

Water and osmotic potential energies were measured with thermocouple psychrometers, at intervals during a 4-week period, in growing leaves of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, var. Blue Lake) and barley (Hordeum vulgare, var. Liberty) plants having roots equally split between 2 differentially salinized nutrient solutions. The osmotic potentials of plants with half their roots in saline solutions were a...

Choline metabolism was examined in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) plants growing under nonsaline and saline conditions. In spinach, choline is required for phosphatidylcholine synthesis and as a precursor for the compatible osmolyte glycine betaine (betaine). When control (nonsalinized) leaf discs were incubated for up to 2 h with [1,2-14C]ethanolamine, label appeared in the N-methylated deriva...

Triple-barrelled microelectrodes measuring K(+) activity (a(K)), pH and membrane potential were used to make quantitative measurements of vacuolar and cytosolic a(K) in epidermal and mesophyll cells of barley plants grown in nutrient solution with 0 or 200 mM added NaCl. Measurements of a(K) were assigned to the cytosol or vacuole based on the pH measured. In epidermal cells, the salt treatment...

The federal government requires those who destroy wetlands to preserve, restore, or create new ones with the goal of no net loss of wetlands. In the summer of 2000, we tested whether forested wetlands created an average of 8 years earlier had developed avian communities similar to natural wetlands of the same age in southeastern Virginia. We compared six created wetlands to five natural (refere...

Urban expansion replaces wetlands of natural origin with artificial stormwater management facilities. The literature suggests that efforts to mimic natural wetlands in the design of stormwater facilities can expand the provision of ecosystem services. Policy developments seek to capitalize on these improvements, encouraging developers to build stormwater wetlands in place of stormwater ponds; h...