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Re: helpful weed

Deborah Shanahan wrote:
> 
> I think that the Canadian J. of Botany and the American Midland
>         Naturalist are at the Forestry School here in Syracuse. I suspect
> that they would be in any University library. If I can find a parking space
> (impossible) I'll spend some time reading the materials.
> 
> >From the titles, it looks as if the articles discuss the way plants
> accumulate salt but don't explain what happens to the salt when the plants
> die.
> 
> Debby
> 
> ---------------------
> 
> >> Debby writes:
> >>
> >> > So, what happens to the salt? Does it concentrate in the plants? What
> >> >  happens when the plants die? There must be more to this than they're
> >> >  letting on.
> >> >
> >> I don't know.  What happens with other plants that act as biological
> >>filters?
> >> I just thought the article was interesting because I have family in west
> >>Texas
> >> and have seen areas of ground where nothing has grown for years due to oil
> >> well spillovers.  Maybe the knotweed provides a source of salt for
> >>animals far
> >> from either coast.
> >
> >I just got mail back from one of the researchers working on this project.
> >He says:
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Dear Dr. Lindsey:
> >
> >    We have been investigating the ability of halophytes to accumulate
> >salts and reduce soil salinity in brine spills.  Two publications that
> >might be useful to you are:
> >Foderaro, MA and Ungar IA. 1997.  Growth and survival of       Polygonum
> >aviculare L. at a brine contaminated   site in southeastern Ohio.  American
> >Midland        Naturalist 138: 140-152.
> >
> >Keiffer, CH and I.A. Ungar.  1997.  The effects of     density and salinity on
> >shoot biomass and ion  accumulation in five inland halophyte species.
> >Canadian Journal of Botany 75:96-107.
> >
> >Polygonum aviculare is a widespread weed species in North America, but it
> >is a poor competitor with perennials which eventually replace it.
> >
> >Best wishes,
> >
> >IA Ungar
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Anyone have access to the actual publications?
> >
> >Chris
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The fate of salts and sodium within plant tissues follow the same fate 
as other inorganic substances that are incorporated into plant tissue.

First of all some halophytes can absorb these salts an sodium and store
them in various ways within the plant at levels that would be lethal to 
other plants.  Plants that absorb sodium do not make the sodium just
disappear.  When these plants die the sodium and other ions are
mineralized and become a soil constituants again.  The only way the
sodium is going to go away is removal of the plant tissue by grazing
animals or harvesting the plants and removing them from the site.

Plants growing on saline or sodic sites can help remediate the site by
increasing the infiltration of the soil.  Water percolating down through
the soil profile leaches salts and sodium out of the root zone.  This
can
actually remediate the affected soils over time.  The degree to which
this occurs is related to the amount of water that percolates through
the soil.  Sodium affects soils by destroying the natural structure that
creates porosity.  As the sodium is leached over time the soil structure 
improves and eventually other plants can grow on the site. If
insufficient amounts of water is available to cause the leaching then
the salts will remain.  In arid climates it takes alot of water because
the salts that are leached are brought back to the root a zone as the
soil water evaporates.  So you have to use enough water to completely
leach the salts from the soil profile.

Brett Roberts, Agronomist


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