The Modulation of Water, Nitrogen, and Phosphorous Supply for Growth Optimization of the Evergreen Shrubs Ammopiptanthus mongolicus for Revegetation Purpose

Rana Roy; M Golam Mahboob; Carmen Arena; Md Abdul Kader; Shirin Sultana; Ahmed Khairul Hasan; Jinxin Wang; Tanwne Sarker; Ruiqi Zhang; Milon Barmon

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.766523

The Modulation of Water, Nitrogen, and Phosphorous Supply for Growth Optimization of the Evergreen Shrubs Ammopiptanthus mongolicus for Revegetation Purpose

Front Plant Sci. 2021 Dec 17:12:766523. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.766523. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Rana Roy^{1

2}, M Golam Mahboob³, Carmen Arena⁴, Md Abdul Kader^{5

6

7}, Shirin Sultana⁸, Ahmed Khairul Hasan⁹, Jinxin Wang^{1

10}, Tanwne Sarker¹¹, Ruiqi Zhang¹², Milon Barmon¹³

Affiliations

¹ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
² Department of Agroforestry & Environmental Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
³ ASICT Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Biology, University of Naples "Federico II", Complesso Universitario Monte S. Angelo, Naples, Italy.
⁵ School of Agriculture, Geography, Environment, Ocean and Natural Sciences, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.
⁶ Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
⁷ College of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
⁸ Open School, Bangladesh Open University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
⁹ Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and the Agri-Environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangling, China.
¹¹ School of Economics and Finance, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
¹² Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
¹³ Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Surface mining is a critical anthropogenic activity that significantly alters the ecosystem. Revegetation practices are largely utilized to compensate for these detrimental impacts of surface mining. In this study, we investigated the effects of five water (W) regimes [W₄₀: 40%, W₄₈: 48%, W₆₀: 60%, W₇₂: 72%, and W₈₀: 80% of field capacity (FC)], five nitrogen (N) (N₀: 0, N₂₄: 24, N₆₀: 60, N₉₆: 96, and N₁₂₀: 120 mg kg^-1 soil), and five phosphorus (P) fertilizer doses (P₀: 0, P₃₆: 36, P₉₀: 90, P₁₄₄: 144, and P₁₈₀: 180 mg kg^-1 soil) on morpho-physiological and biochemical parameters of Ammopiptanthus mongolicus plants to assess the capability of this species to be used for restoration purposes. The results showed that under low W-N resources, A. mongolicus exhibited poor growth performance (i.e., reduced plant height, stem diameter, and dry biomass) in coal-degraded spoils, indicating that A. mongolicus exhibited successful adaptive mechanisms by reducing its biomass production to survive long in environmental stress conditions. Compared with control, moderate to high W and N-P application rates greatly enhanced the net photosynthesis rates, transpiration rates, water-use efficiency, chlorophyll (Chl) a, Chl b, total Chl, and carotenoid contents. Under low-W content, the N-P fertilization enhanced the contents of proline and soluble sugar, as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase in leaf tissues, reducing the oxidative stress. Changes in plant growth and metabolism in W-shortage conditions supplied with N-P fertilization may be an adaptive strategy that is essential for its conservation and restoration in the desert ecosystem. The best growth performance was observed in plants under W supplements corresponding to 70% of FC and N and P doses of 33 and 36 mg kg^-1 soil, respectively. Our results provide useful information for revegetation and ecological restoration in coal-degraded and arid-degraded lands in the world using endangered species A. mongolicus.

Keywords: Ammopiptanthus mongolicus; chemical fertilizers; coal mine spoils; revegetation; water-shortage.