Interspecific Differences in Physiological and Biochemical Traits Drive the Water Stress Tolerance in Young <i>Morus alba</i> L. and <i>Conocarpus erectus</i> L. Saplings
Zikria Zafar,
Fahad Rasheed,
Ahsan Ul Haq,
Faridah Hanum Ibrahim,
Shazia Afzal,
Mohd Nazre,
Seemab Akram,
Zafar Hussain,
Kamziah Abdul Kudus,
Muhammad Mohsin,
Abdul Qadeer,
Zohaib Raza,
Waseem Razzaq Khan
Affiliations
Zikria Zafar
Department of Forestry & Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Fahad Rasheed
Department of Forestry & Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Ahsan Ul Haq
Department of Forestry & Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Faridah Hanum Ibrahim
Institut Ekosains Borneo, Universiti Putra Malaysia Kampus Bintulu, Bintulu 97008, Malaysia
Shazia Afzal
Department of Forestry, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan
Mohd Nazre
Department of Forestry Science and Biodiversity, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Sri Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Seemab Akram
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Sri Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Zafar Hussain
Department of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60000, Pakistan
Kamziah Abdul Kudus
Department of Forestry Science and Biodiversity, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Sri Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Muhammad Mohsin
School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 80100 Joensuu, Finland
Abdul Qadeer
Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Zohaib Raza
Department of Forestry & Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Waseem Razzaq Khan
Institut Ekosains Borneo, Universiti Putra Malaysia Kampus Bintulu, Bintulu 97008, Malaysia
Mitigating climate change requires the identification of tree species that can tolerate water stress with fewer negative impacts on plant productivity. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the water stress tolerance of young saplings of C. erectus and M. alba under three soil water deficit treatments (control, CK, 90% field capacity, FC, medium stress MS, 60% FC and high stress, HS, 30% FC) under controlled conditions. Results showed that leaf and stem dry weight decreased significantly in both species under MS and HS. However, root dry weight and root/shoot ratio increased, and total dry weight remained similar to CK under MS in C. erectus saplings. Stomatal conductance, CO2 assimilation rate decreased, and intrinsic water use efficiency increased significantly in both species under MS and HS treatments. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide, superoxide radical, malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage increased in both the species under soil water deficit but was highest in M. alba. The concentration of antioxidative enzymes like superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase also increased in both species under MS and HS but was highest in C. erectus. Therefore, results suggest that C. erectus saplings depicted a better tolerance to MS due to an effective antioxidative enzyme system.
