IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v15y2025i11p1166-d1666751.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leaf Plasticity and Biomass Allocation of Arundo donax Under Combined Irrigation and Nitrogen Conditions in Salinized Soil

Author

Listed:
  • Yamin Jia

    (College of Water Resources Sciences and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Yaqiong Fan

    (College of Water Resources Sciences and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Tingyu Chen

    (School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Zhiwen Duan

    (College of Water Resources Sciences and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Shuhui Liu

    (College of Water Resources Sciences and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

  • Xiaoli Gao

    (College of Water Resources Sciences and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)

Abstract

Arundo donax L. (giant reed) is a perennial rhizomatous grass with high drought and salinity tolerance, making it a promising low-input bioenergy crop. However, the understanding of the combined effects of irrigation and nitrogen application in salinized soil on physiological adaptations and biomass allocation is still limited. In this study, we conducted a three-factor orthogonal pot experiment with four levels per factor in 2023 and 2024 as follows: salinity (S0: non-saline, S1: low salinity, S2: moderate salinity, S3: high salinity); irrigation amount (W0: 605, W1: 770, W2: 935, W3: 1100 mm); and nitrogen application (N0: 0, N1: 60, N2: 120, N3: 180 kg/ha). This resulted in 14 irrigation-nitrogen-salinity combined treatments. The results showed the following: (1) Irrigation, nitrogen and salinity significantly affected leaf dimensions, photosynthetic rate, plant height, biomass allocation and dry matter of the total plant ( p < 0.05). (2) Significant coupling interactions were observed between salinity and irrigation, as well as between nitrogen and irrigation, affecting leaf morphology, plant height, leaf dry matter and total biomass accumulation; a coupling interaction of salinity and nitrogen was found to affect the leaf area, root, stem and leaf dry weight. (3) The S0N2W2 treatment produced the highest dry biomass, which was 2.2 times higher than for the S3N2W2 treatment. (4) Under moderate-salinity conditions (S2), biomass allocation favored stems and leaves, whereas under high-salinity conditions (S3) biomass allocation shifted towards leaves, followed by stems and roots. A combination of 935 mm irrigation amount and 120 kg/ha nitrogen (N2W2) under S1 and S2 is recommended to optimize biomass production. Our study provides practical irrigation and nitrogen management strategies to enhance A. donax cultivation on marginal saline lands, supporting climate-resilient bio-economy initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Yamin Jia & Yaqiong Fan & Tingyu Chen & Zhiwen Duan & Shuhui Liu & Xiaoli Gao, 2025. "Leaf Plasticity and Biomass Allocation of Arundo donax Under Combined Irrigation and Nitrogen Conditions in Salinized Soil," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:11:p:1166-:d:1666751
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/11/1166/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/11/1166/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claudia Arias & Gladys Lino & Elena Sánchez & Salvador Nogués & Xavier Serrat, 2023. "Drought Impact on the Morpho-Physiological Parameters of Perennial Rhizomatous Grasses in the Mediterranean Environment," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Danilo Scordia & Salvatore Luciano Cosentino, 2019. "Perennial Energy Grasses: Resilient Crops in a Changing European Agriculture," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prabodh Illukpitiya & Firuz Yuldashev & Kabirat Nasiru, 2022. "Designing Harvesting and Hauling Cost Models for Energy Cane Production for Biorefineries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Izabela Gołąb-Bogacz & Waldemar Helios & Andrzej Kotecki & Marcin Kozak & Anna Jama-Rodzeńska, 2021. "Content and Uptake of Ash and Selected Nutrients (K, Ca, S) with Biomass of Miscanthus × giganteus Depending on Nitrogen Fertilization," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Ciro Vasmara & Stefano Cianchetta & Rosa Marchetti & Enrico Ceotto & Stefania Galletti, 2021. "Potassium Hydroxyde Pre-Treatment Enhances Methane Yield from Giant Reed ( Arundo donax L.)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Králík, T. & Knápek, J. & Vávrová, K. & Outrata, D. & Romportl, D. & Horák, M. & Jandera, J., 2023. "Ecosystem services and economic competitiveness of perennial energy crops in the modelling of biomass potential – A case study of the Czech Republic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Aida Skersiene & Alvyra Slepetiene & Vaclovas Stukonis & Egle Norkeviciene, 2023. "Accumulation of SOC and Carbon Fractions in Different Age Red Fescue Permanent Swards," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-13, May.
    6. Knápek, J. & Králík, T. & Vávrová, K. & Valentová, M. & Horák, M. & Outrata, D., 2021. "Policy implications of competition between conventional and energy crops," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Leirpoll, Malene Eldegard & Næss, Jan Sandstad & Cavalett, Otavio & Dorber, Martin & Hu, Xiangping & Cherubini, Francesco, 2021. "Optimal combination of bioenergy and solar photovoltaic for renewable energy production on abandoned cropland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 45-56.
    8. Stanisław Rolbiecki & Małgorzata Biniak-Pieróg & Andrzej Żyromski & Wiesława Kasperska-Wołowicz & Barbara Jagosz & Piotr Stachowski & Daniel Liberacki & Ewa Kanecka-Geszke & Hicran A. Sadan & Roman Ro, 2021. "Effect of Forecast Climate Changes on Water Needs of Giant Miscanthus Cultivated in the Kuyavia Region in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-13, October.
    9. Ciro Vasmara & Stefania Galletti & Stefano Cianchetta & Enrico Ceotto, 2023. "Advancements in Giant Reed ( Arundo donax L.) Biomass Pre-Treatments for Biogas Production: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-21, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:11:p:1166-:d:1666751. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.