Citation:
Abstract:
This study was conducted in order to compare the levels of tolerance to salinity in three Acacia species (Acacia dealbata Link., Acacia ehrenbergiana Hayne and Acacia tortilis (Forssk.) Hayne var. raddiana) during germination. We were able to determine the optimum conditions for germination to assess suitability for germination of these species under different concentrations of seawater (0: Control, 10, 30, 50 and 100%) in Petri dishes. Preliminary results showed that germination was completely inhibited from 100% of seawater for all studied species. The capacity of germination is evaluated by the cumulative rates of seeds germinated into a period of 2 weeks. In addition, length and water content were measured on seedlings aged about 2 weeks. The effect of seawater on the germination and the growth of seedlings differed significantly (P < 0.001) between the species. Acacia tortilis var. raddiana has proved to be the most tolerant to salinity with a very high germinability (96% at 50% of seawater concentration). Acacia tortilis var. raddiana and Acacia ehrenbergiana showed great tolerance to 50% of seawater in all studied parameters. The results also revealed that the effect was varied depending on the growth stage, salinity levels and species.