Plant-Environment Interactions: Responses to Climate Change and Global Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Many recent studies have forecasted that climate change and global warming could cause the extinction of up 50% of the planet's plant species by the end of the century. Such a scenario would certainly have disastrous impacts on humanity as a whole, considering the fundamental role that plants play in the functioning of life on Earth. Indeed, plants greatly affect the overall richness of biodiversity and ecosystems, as they shape natural habitats and define the physical environments in which all other species exist.

Plant–environment interactions cover dynamic exchanges occurring between plants and their physical, chemical and biological environment, including biotic and abiotic elements and other factors related to climatic conditions, environmental stresses, biogeochemical cycles, human influences and evolutionary adaptations. Nevertheless, climate change (changes in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric composition, alongside other variables) exerts significant and complex effects on such interactions. Changes in the conditions of plant growth, development and survival are, therefore, expected, as are later shifts in the behavior and allocation of plant species and ecosystems. This Special Issue will focus on exploring the responses of plant species, especially plant–environment interactions, to climate change factors and global challenges, which could help researchers to develop appropriate management strategies.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed El Yamani
Dr. James A. Bunce
Guest Editors

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1.Screening of high-efficiency rhizobia associated with Vicia villosa Roth in the arid region of Northwest China

Abstract

Aims: The purpose of this study was to screen for rhizobia which are with severe stress resistance and efficient nitrogen-fixing ability associated with Vicia villosa Roth in arid areas in Northwest China.

2. Salt Water Exposure Exacerbates Negative Response of Phragmites australis to Sea Level Rise

 Austin Lynn* and Tracy Quirk

Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The response of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise (SLR) largely depends on the tolerance of individual plant species to inundation stress and, in brackish and freshwater wetlands, exposure to higher salinities. Phragmites australis is a cosmopolitan wetland reed that grows in saline to freshwater marshes. Phragmites has many genetically distinct haplotypes, some of which are invasive and the focus of considerable research and management. However, the relative response of Phragmites haplotypes to SLR is not well known, despite the importance for predicting future distribution changes and understanding its role in marsh morphological response and resilience to SLR. Here, we use a large marsh organ experiment to test how factors associated with sea level rise— inundation and seawater exposure, affect porewater chemistry and growth response of three Phragmites haplotypes along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast. We planted three Phragmites lineages (Delta, European, and Gulf) into marsh organs at five different elevations in channels at two locations, representing a low (Mississippi River delta; 0-13 ppt) and high exposure to salinity (Mermentau basin; 6-18 ppt). Haplotypes responded similarly to flooding and site conditions. Survivorship across haplotypes after two growing seasons was 42% lower at the brackish site than the freshwater site, associated with high salinity and sulfide concentrations. Flooding greater than 19% of the time led to lower survival across both sites linked to high concentrations of acetic acid in the porewater. Increased flood duration had a negative linear relationship with live biomass in the high salinity site, while no such relationship was detected in the low salinity site indicating that flood tolerance is greater under freshwater conditions. These results show that the vulnerability of all haplotypes of Phragmites to rising sea level depends on exposure to saline water and that a combination of flooding and salinity can help control invasive haplotypes.

Keywords: Sea level rise, Dieback, Stress, Wetlands, Invasion, Restoration, Habitat Loss, Ecosystem Services