Salinity Effects on Germination of Artemisia herba-alba Asso: Important Pastoral Shrub from North African Rangelands

Artemisia herba alba Asso (known in Arabic as Shih) is an evergreen aromatic shrub endemic in North African rangelands with high pastoral and medicinal relevance. The present work was designed to determine the effect of four soluble salts (NaCl, Na2SO4, MgCl2, and CaCl2) on germination of A. herba alba seeds. Four concentrations (0, 50,10, and 150 mM) of each salt were used to test the influence of salinities on germination percentage (GP), rate of germination (RG), and germination tolerance index (GTI %). The experiment was conducted in a controlled incubator with a 12h-photoperiod under 15 degrees C dark/25 degrees C light. The results showed that both GP and (RG) decreased significantly with salinity, and the highest GP was observed in the distilled water control (similar to 80%). The germination tolerance index (GTI%) revealed that A. herba alba seeds were more tolerant to CaCl(2 )than other soluble salts. Comparatively, at high salt concentrations, MgCl2 and Na2SO4 were generally the most toxic salts followed by NaCl and CaCl2. The germination of A. herba alba over a wide range of soluble salts suggests that this species can establish in salt-degraded soils. Therefore, this species appears a promising candidate for the rehabilitation of rangeland with saline soils. (C) 2018 The Society for Range Management. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.