Forage potential of Salsola species in arid-saline rangelands

Forage potential of Salsola species in arid-saline rangelands

We investigated the forage potential of 12 Salsola species including S. arbuscula, S. abarghuensis, S. dendroides, S. crassa, S. imbricata, S. incanescens, S. nitraria, S. kerneri, S. orientalis, S. richteri, S. tomentosa, and S. yazdiana in the Southern rangelands of the Great Salt Desert. The results showed a great significant variation among forage quality and quantity of the Salsola species. The greatest fresh and dry forages were obtained in S. yazdiana (4.54 and 1.53 kg m–2, respectively) followed by S. dendroides (3.02 and 1.13 kg m–2, respectively). The S. tomentosa had the greatest ash content by 20.2%, which significantly was higher than others; whereas the greatest crude protein was observed in S. incanescens and S. crassa. The lower acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) as appropriate forage quality indices were achieved in S. dendroides, S. imbricata, and S. arbuscula. Furthermore, S. dendroides and S. incanescens had the greatest dry matter digestibility (59%) and metabolizable energy (8%). Tissue water content in halophytes was a valuable index for salinity tolerance and forage quality, which is missed in the literature. Higher tissue water content (72.0% in S. crassa and 71.4% S. kerneri) could probably lead to lower water consumption in small ruminants. Based on the finding, Salsola species had low energy (7.1% on average) and approximately high protein content (8.5% on average), but some species such as S. incanescens and S. dendroides followed by S. imbricata had better forage quality; so they could be considered alternative forage plants in arid land regions. However, forages of these species should be used in mix with common forages due to the low energy level.

___

  • Abd El-Rahman HH (2008). Improvement of the nutritive value of some unpalatable desert plants by ensiling treatment with palatable plants and molasses additives. Mansoura University Journal of Agricultural Sciences 33: 8001-8010.
  • Abtahi M, Zandi E (2017). Effects of phenological stage on forage quality of halophyte species Salsola arbuscula Pall. in the central desert of Iran. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 15 (3): 901-909.
  • Akhani H (2006). Biodiversity of halophytic and sabkha ecosystems in Iran. In: Khan MA, Boer B, Kust GS, Barth HJ (editors). Sabkha ecosystems, Vol. II: West and Central Asia. Netherlands: Springer, pp. 71-88.
  • Akhani H, Edwards G, Roalson EH (2007). Diversification of the old world Salsoleae sl (Chenopodiaceae): molecular phylogenetic analysis of nuclear and chloroplast data sets and a revised classification. International Journal of Plant Sciences 168: 931-956.
  • Arzani H, Zohdi M, Fish E, Zahedi-Amiri G, Nikkhah A, Wester D (2004). Phenological effects on forage quality of five grass species. Rangeland Ecology and Management 57: 624-629.
  • Asaadi AM, Yazdi AK (2011). Phenological stage effects on forage quality of four forbs species. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment 9 (2): 380-384.
  • Attia-Ismail SA (2018) Halophytes as forages. In: Edvan RL, Bezerra L (editors). New perspectives in forage crops. Rijeka, Croatia: InTech Open, pp. 69-87.
  • Gihad EA, Shaer HE (1994). Utilization of halophytes by livestock on rangelands: problems and prospects. In: Squires VR, Ayoub AT (editors). Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer pp. 77-96.
  • Gillson L, Hoffman MT (2007). Ecology: rangeland ecology in a changing world. Science 315: 53-54.
  • Mauseth JD (2016). Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology. 6th ed. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett publishers.
  • Norman HC, Revell DK, Mayberry DE, Rintoul AJ, Wilmot MG et al. (2010). Comparison of in vivo organic matter digestion of native Australian shrubs by sheep to in vitro and in sacco predictions. Small Ruminant Research 91: 69-80. doi: 10.1016/j. smallrumres.2009.11.019
  • Norman HC, Masters DG, Barrett-Lennard EG (2013). Halophytes as forages in saline landscapes: interactions between plant genotype and environment change their feeding value to ruminants. Environmental and Experimental Botany 92: 96-109. doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2012.07.003
  • Hakimi Meybodi MH, Sadeghinia M (2009). Identification of Iranian rangeland plants. Tehran, Iran: Iran University press.
  • Hedayati-Firoozabadi A, Kazemeini SA, Pirasteh-Anosheh H, Ghadiri H, Pessarakli M (2020). Forage yield and quality as affected by salt stress in different ratios of Sorghum bicolor-Bassia indica intercropping. Journal of Plant Nutrition 43: 2579-2589. doi: 10.1080/01904167.2020.1783301
  • Hoffman PC, Lundberg KM, Bauman LM, Shaver RD (2003). The effect of maturity on NDF digestibility. Focus on Forage 5: 1-3. Ismail FS, Ismail FSI (2017). Effect of using different fertilizers sources on forage sorghum yield, digestibility and energy parameters by in vitro gas test production. Annals of Agricultural Science 55: 805-816.
  • Masters DG, Benes SE, Norman HC (2007). Biosaline agriculture for forage and livestock production. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 119: 234-248.
  • Narjary B, Meena MD, Kumar S, Kamra SK, Sharma DK et al. (2019). Digital mapping of soil salinity at various depths using an EM38. Soil Use and Management 35: 232-244.
  • Nicol A M (1987). Feeding livestock on pasture. Madison: New Zealand Society of Animal Production.
  • Nikalje GC, Bhaskar SD, Yadav K, Penna S (2019). Halophytes: prospective plants for future. In: Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K, Ozturk M (editors). Ecophysiology, abiotic stress responses and utilization of halophytes. Singapore: Springer, pp. 221-234.
  • Oddy VU, Robards GE, Low SG (1983). Prediction of in vivo dry matter digestibility from the fibre and nitrogen content of a feed. In: Robards GE, Packham RG (editors). Feed information and animal production. Australia: Common Wealth Agricultural Bureau, pp. 295-298.
  • Panahi F, Assareh MH, Jafari M (2012). Phenological effects on forage quality of Salsola arbuscula, Salsola orientalis and Salsola tomentosa in three habitats in the central part of Iran. MiddleEast Journal Scientific Research 11: 800-807.
  • Pinkerton B (1996). Forage Quality. Clemson, USA: Clemson University Press.
  • Pyankov VI, Black C, Stichler W, Ziegler H (2002). Photosynthesis in Salsola species (Chenopodiaceae) from southern Africa relative to their C4 syndrome origin and their African-Asian arid zone migration pathways. Plant Biology 4: 62-69.
  • Pyankov VI, Ziegler H, Akhani H, Deigele C, Luettge U (2010). European plants with C4 photosynthesis: geographical and taxonomic distribution and relations to climate parameters. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 163 (3): 283-304.
  • Rabenhorst MC (2016). A half century of changes in soil taxonomy. Soil Science Society of America Journal 80: 839-844.
  • Ranjbar G, Pirasteh-Anosheh H (2020). Comparison of the accumulation of elements, ash content and biomass of some halophytes species under irrigating with sea water. Desert Management 14: 63-74.
  • Rasouli B, Amiri B (2015). Assessment of new forage sources in saline areas of Iran. Environmental Resources Research 3: 75-83.
  • Temel S, Surmen M, Tan M (2015). Effects of growth stages on the nutritive value of specific halophyte species in saline grasslands. The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 25: 1419-1428.
  • Temel S, Keskin B (2019). Annual evaluation of nutritional values of Salsola ruthenica evaluated as a potential feed source in aridpasture areas. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 28: 7137-7144.
  • Van Soest PJ, Roberson JB, Lewis BA (1991). Methods for dietary fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and nonstarch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 3583- 3597
  • Waldron BL, Sagers JK, Peel MD, Rigby CW, Bugbee B et al. (2020). Salinity reduces the forage quality of forage kochia: a halophytic Chenopodiaceae shrub. Rangeland Ecology and Management 73: 384-393. doi: 10.1016/j.rama.2019.12.005
  • Wen ZB, Zhang ML, Zhu GL, Sanderson SC (2010). Phylogeny of Salsoleae S.l. (Chenopodiaceae) based on DNA sequence data from ITS, psbB–psbH, and rbcL, with emphasis on taxa of northwestern China. Plant Systematics and Evolution 288: 25-42. doi: 10.1007/s00606-010-0310-5
  • Zandi-Esfahan E, Assareh MH, Jafari M, Jafari AA, Javadi SA et al. (2010). Phenological effects on forage quality of two halophyte species Atriplex leucoclada and Suaeda vermiculata in four saline rangelands of Iran. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment 8: 999-1003.
  • Zare M, Zandi-Esfahan E, Ghorbani A (2019). Forage quality of Salsola yazdiana and S. tomentosa in different growth stages in saline desert of Yazd Province, Iran. Journal of Rangeland Science 9: 104-113.