Salinity Damage to Norfolk Island Pines Caused by Surfactants. III. Evidence for Stomatal Penetration as the Pathway of Salt Entry to Leaves

Abstract

The paper describes the effect of varied surfactant concentrations on penetration of NaCl into leaves of Norfolk Island Pine, Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco. It confirms that the damage observed along the sea-coast in Sydney is similar to that produced by high NaCl levels in the foliage. The effect of surfactant in increasing NaCl uptake from sea-water spray is related to the reduction in surface tension and to the advancing contact angle of the spray on the leaf surface. It is suggested that sea-spray enters A, heterophylla needles through the stomata, and that the cuticle is particularly resistant to NaCI, compared with other plant species. Similar penetration and damage was found with sprays of CaCl,, MgCl, and KC1 showing that the damage was not due specifically to NaCI.

Influence of marine salts on the localization and accumulation of surfactant in the needles of Pinus halepensis Mill

“…Similar observations were made in Australia on the Sydney coastline (Pitman et al, 1977; Grieve and Pitman, 1978; Dowden and Lambert, 1979;Moodie et al, 1986). …”

“…In contrast, very little is presently known about the mechanisms that could occur to explain an interaction of anionic surfactant and salt spray causing severe damage to plants. Grieve and Pitman (1978) (Hoenig, 1981 . Needle waxes of P halepensis Mill are covered by epicuticular tubules and analysis of the chemical composition of epicuticular waxes revealed a major compound: nonacosan-10-ol .…”

The role of marine salt and surfactants in the decline of Tyrrhenian coastal vegetation in Italy

“…A second set of research studies followed in the 1980s (Gellini et al, 1981(Gellini et al, , 1982(Gellini et al, , 1983(Gellini et al, , 1985(Gellini et al, , 1987Bussotti et al, 1984;Guidi et al, 1988;Innamorati et al, 1989;Grossoni et al, 1990), also focusing on San Rossore. In the meantime studies were also carried out in Australia (Pitman et al, 1977;Dowden et al, 1978; Grieve and Pitman, 1978;Truman and Lambert, 1978;Dowden and Lambert, 1979;Moodie et al, 1986), in France (Devèze and Sigoillot, 1978;Sigoillot et al, 1981;Sigoillot, 1982;Garrec and Sigoillot, 1992;Badot and Garrec, 1993) and, more recently, in Spain along the coast near Barcelona (Astorga et al, 1993). In all the areas studied the damage is located near urban zones or near wastewater collector tanks and extends inland for a stretch of a few hundred metres or at most 1 km.…”

“…In order to measure chlorides in the P pinea needles, the needles were rinsed before testing for about 5 min in deionized water. The chloride extraction was performed according to the method described by Grieve and Pitman (1978); the analytical method used is potentiometric titration with 0.1 N silver nitrate. The absorbed salt is expressed as mg of Cl -per gram of dry matter.…”

Effets des embruns marins pollu�s sur les feuilles d?Acacia cyanophylla Lindl. et d?Eucalyptus gomphocephala Dc. du littoral tunisien

“…L'effet cumulé des LAS plus des hydrocarbures en support salin (EMS + LAS + HC) apparaît donc comme le plus perturbateur pour la surface foliaire et pour la physiologie de la feuille. De nombreux auteurs ont décrit une modification de la structure des cires cuticulaires sous l'action des tensioactifs de type LAS chez les végétaux ligneux [21,22,27]. De même une dégradation par des LAS marqués [ 35 S] des cires épicuticulaires sur les aiguilles de Pinus halepensis a été trouvée 2 fois supérieure en solution d'eau de mer comparativement à celle obtenue en solution d'eau distillée [16,32].…”