Chloride Removal Potential of Turfgrass in Golf Courses of the Mediterranean Region

摘要

Due to the lack of water in the Mediterranean basin, potable water luxurious uses - are increasingly contested. In order to solve this problem, brackish water resources, gained increasing role in the planning and development of water supplies in the irrigation of golf courses. Application of excessive amounts of freshwater in saline soils and the heavy use of fertilizers are methods have been used to mitigate soil salinity and to increase the salt tolerance of turfgrass in golf courses. However, the intense use of these conventional techniques has attracted public attention due to the environmental pollution and the contamination of groundwater resources. In recent years, a new environmentally safe and clean technique, whereby the salt (ion) removing species are planted in the salt-affected soils, has been introduced to mitigate the salinity problems. The salt removal potential of several turfgrass cutivars were evaluated for their efficiency to remove salts (ions) from the soils under this study. Chloride concentration of leaves was the studied indicator. Plant collection was conducted in several golf courses in Algarve, the southern region of Portugal. Results of this study show that Lolium perene "brighstar" tissues accumulated the largest amounts of chloride leaves, followed by Cynodon dactilon "bermuda 419". Hence, both could become potential cutivars, which could be used to control and to combat salinity in the golf courses of the Mediterranean regions in order to rehabilitate saline soils, in association to other techniques.