Effects of salinity and illumination on photosynthesis and water balance of Spartina alterniflora Loisel.

Plants of the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora Loisel were collected from North Carolina and grown under controlled nutrient, temperature, and photoperiod conditions. Plants were grown at two different illumination levels; substrate salinity was varied, and leaf photosynthesis, transpiration, total chlorophyll, leaf xylem pressure, and specific leaf weight were measured. Conditions were controlled so that gaseous and liquid phase resistances to CO2 diffusion could be calculated. Growth at low illumination and high salinity (30 ppt) resulted in a 50% reduction in photosynthesis. The reduction in photosynthesis of plants grown at low illumination was correlated with an increase in gaseous resistance. Photosynthetic rates of plants grown at high salinity and high illumination were reduced only slightly compared to rates of plants grown, in 10 ppt and Hoagland's solution. Both high salinity and high illumination were correlated with increases in specific leaf weight. Chlorophyll data indicate that specific leaf weight differences were the result of increases in leaf thickness. It is therefore hypothesized that photosynthetic response can be strongly influenced by salinity-induced changes in leaf structure. Similarities in photosynthetic rate on an area basis at high, illumination were apparently the result, of increases in leaf thickness at high salinity. Photosynthetic rates were generally quite high, even at salinities close to open ocean water, and it is concluded that salinity rarely limits photosynthesis in S. alterniflora.