Forty-one soil and root samples from the rhizosphere of some dominant plants of deserts of Semnan province (NE Iran) were collected and examined in this survey. No mycorrhizal symbiosis was found in 24% of the collected plants, while in 76% of them mycorrhizal symbiosis was detected as fungal structures in roots or AMF spores in soils. The highest degree of colonization (76%) was found near the...

Two species of Atriplex were grown under low temperature (8 C day/6 C night) and high temperature (28 C day/20 C night) regimes. The photosynthetic capacity of these plants was studied as a function of temperature in a leaf gas exchange cuvette. Both species showed substantial photosynthetic capacity between 4 and 10 C and this was not enhanced by growth at low temperatures but rather, was some...

There is a surplus of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. grazing that can be used as animal feed. This material was harvested to assess the effects on intake, growth, and carcass characteristics of kids. Atriplex replaced alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa L.) in a proportion of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% for 60 creole kids weighing 13 kg and was assigned to the diets in a completely randomized design. The p...

The efficiency of livestock production in shortgrass steppe may be increased by grazing fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens [Pursh] Nutt)-dominated rangeland in late fall and/or early spring, but there is a paucity of information concerning stocking rates and animal gains. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of light and moderate stocking rates on weight gains of heifers gr...

1 Despite much debate about their importance, only a few ®eld studies have evaluated the intensity of competition and herbivory. 2 Artemisia maritima, Atriplex portulacoides and Plantago maritima, three plant species which are common in European temperate salt marshes, were transplanted into di€erent successional stages (15, 30 and 45 years old) of a temperate salt marsh. Biomass of each transp...

Oxidative stress is induced by a wide range of environmental factors including heavy metals stress. Therefore, antioxidant resistance mechanisms may provide a strategy to enhance metal tolerance, and processes underlying antioxidant responses to metal stress must be clearly understood. In the present study, the effects of heavy metals generating antioxidative defense systems (i.e. superoxide di...

The effects of salinity on growth, water relations, glycinebetaine content, and ion accumulation in the perennial halophyte Atriplex griffithii var. stocksii were determined. The following questions were addressed: (1) What effect does salinity have on growth responses at different ages? (2) Is A. griffithii an ion accumulator? (3) Does A. griffithii accumulate glycinebetaine in response to sal...