Journal of Rangeland

Puccinellia distans is a perennial grass, which is well adopted naturally in the areas with waterlogged and relatively high salinity. In this research, the growth rates of Puccinellia distans, irrigated with natural water collected from Agh-ghala and Gorgan golf were evaluated using a completely randomized design. The plants were cultivated in Hoagland nutrient solution collected from natural and the two water dilution levels (diluted two and four times in compared with natural collected waters). Gorgan city tap water was used as a control treatment. The plants were harvested after 75 days and the growth rates of the species and Na⁺, K⁺, calcium and iron concentration in the plants were measured. The highest growth rate of the species was observed in four times diluted Agh-ghala run off treatment. The total fresh weight and total dry weight of this treatment were 92.4 g and 60 g respectively. The accumulated Na⁺ content in control treatment was less than other treatments significantly. The accumulated Na⁺ in the plants irrigated with tap water, Agh-ghala and Gorgan golf were 11.3, 36.7 and 34.3 mg g^-1 dry weight respectively. The Potassium concentrations in the plants irrigated with natural saline water collected from the two areas were less than the control treatment (Gorgan tap water) significantly. The potassium concentrations in the plants tissues were increased up to 38.9 mg g^-1 dry weight using diluted saline water. Dilution of saline water also leads to increase the iron (20 and 7 folds in Agh-ghala run off and Gorgan golf water treatments) and calcium concentrations (1.5 and 1.1 folds in Agh-ghala run off and Gorgan golf water treatments) in the above ground of the species significantly. According to the results, the growth rates of this species were decreased when the plants irrigated with saline because of ion toxicity and decreasing the potassium, calcium and iron contents in the above ground biomass of the species. This study indicated that this species has capability to be used in the restoration projects of areas with saline and wet soils.