First and second-year assessments of the rapid reconstruction and re-vegetation method for reclaiming two saline–sodic, coastal soils with drip-irrigation

Abstract

a b s t r a c tSoil salinity, sodicity and saline groundwater are major constraints to the cultivation of landscape plants along oceanic coasts. A sustainable approach for reclaiming saline-sodic soils in coastal environments is evaluated. Soil tillage, phased saline water management based on soil matric potential under dripirrigation, and the installation of a gravel-sand layer were used. Field trials using the method showed that the proposed approach had the advantages of considerable water conservation, more effective salt leaching and successful re-vegetation with desired species. Severely saline soils became non-saline within the 0-40 cm soil profile after one year and non-saline to moderately saline within the 0-120 cm depth after two years. The approach can rather quickly create an attractive landscape and maintain good plant growth. Plants representing nearly 30 landscape species, including some sensitive to salinity were proposed. Plantings showed survival up to 90% after one and two years. This approach demands less water, improves the ecological environments, and will inspire development of coastal areas.

Vegetation establishment in coastal salt‐affected wasteland using drip‐irrigation with saline water

“…Therefore, leaching out salt from soil through irrigation and thus creating a more conducive soil environment for plants is critical to using saline water for irrigation. In recent years, drip‐irrigation, as a modern water‐saving method of irrigation, has proved highly useful and has emerged as the most promising irrigation system for using saline water (Li et al, ; Malash et al, ). Drip‐irrigation applies water precisely, uniformly, and frequently, maintaining high soil matric potential (SMP) in the root zone, thereby compensating for the decreased osmotic potential caused by irrigation with saline water and maintaining a constant high total water potential for plant growth (Goldberg, Gornat, & Rimon, ; Li, Kang, Wan, Chen, Chu, & Xu, ).…”

“…In recent years, drip‐irrigation, as a modern water‐saving method of irrigation, has proved highly useful and has emerged as the most promising irrigation system for using saline water (Li et al, ; Malash et al, ). Drip‐irrigation applies water precisely, uniformly, and frequently, maintaining high soil matric potential (SMP) in the root zone, thereby compensating for the decreased osmotic potential caused by irrigation with saline water and maintaining a constant high total water potential for plant growth (Goldberg, Gornat, & Rimon, ; Li, Kang, Wan, Chen, Chu, & Xu, ). Drip‐irrigation has also been widely applied in reclaiming saline soils because it saves water and is more effective in leaching away salts; a flow of unsaturated soil moisture leaches salts more effectively than that of saturated moisture (Selassie, Jurinak, & Dudley, ).…”

GIS-mapping spatial distribution of soil salinity for Eco-restoring the Yellow River Delta in combination with Electromagnetic Induction

“…Salt accumulation has detrimental effects on soil physical and chemical properties (Zhang et al, 2014;Shukla et al, 2011) and on enzyme activities and microbial and biochemical activities (Rietz and Haynes, 2003;Yuan et al, 2007;Karlen et al, 2008), thus inhibiting agriculture productivity (Rady, 2011;Ouni et al, 2014). Excessive Na + may cause high pH, changes in soil solution ions and nutrients, and destabilization of soil structure (Li et al, 2015). Also, salt toxicity influences plant growth significantly (Yan et al, 2013) from two aspects: hyperosmotic stress and hyperionic stress (Tang et al, 2014;Jiang et al, 2016).…”

“…Salt salinity is a common problem around the world, especially in arid and semi-arid areas (Wichelns and Qadir, 2014;Singh et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2008;Li et al, 2015) with low rainfall and high evaporation. Apart from the natural factors resulting in soil salinization, long-term irrigated agriculture with poor drainage system contributes to secondary salinization (Ouni et al, 2013;Qadir and Oster, 2004;Kitamura et al, 2006).…”

Response of Daylily (Hemerocallis hybridus cv. ‘Stella de oro’) to saline water irrigation in two coastal saline soils

“…2). This could be attributed to the better soil infiltration in sandy loam soil (Li et al, 2015c). In the present study, salt leaching effects decreased with irrigation water salinity increasing (Fig.…”