A greehhouse study was conducted to assess the interactive effects of three irrigation water salinity levels (1 . 0, 3. 0, and 9 . 0 mmho/cm) and three quantities of water app lied per irrigation (120 , 240, 360 ml) on plant growth and nitrogen fixation by alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. cv. Resistador). Harvest dates corresponded t o 10, 30, and 50 days after the initiation of salt and water treatments which were started after nodulation had been established in young plants. Alfalfa top growth was limited by both salt and water s tresses. Irrigation water s alinity had a grea t er effec t on top growt h than root grm;th while root distribution was unaffected by either the quant i ty of water app l ied or by water salinity. The effects of salinity on pl ant growth were reduced in the presence of l imi ting moisture. The specific nodul e act ivi t y (mmol c2H4/hr/g) of water s tressed alfalfa pl ants was enhanced by increasing the quantity of wat er applied a t each irriga t ion and was adversely effected by increased irrigation water salinity . In contrast, both nodulation and nodule growth were insensitive t o salt stress and sensi tive only to severe mo i s ture s tress . Alfalfa plants continued to exhibit acetylene reducing capacity at the third harvest even under severe moisture and salt stress. The species apparently continues to fix nitrogen even though environmental stress is quite substantial.

To study the effect of NaCl stress on gene expression in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), greenhouse and laboratory experiments were conducted with 22 cultivars during germination and post-germination growth. The ability of alfalfa cultivars to germinate at the different NaCl concentrations was not related to their postgermination performance (salt tolerance) under those conditions. Genetic effects were evident for Na and Cl ion uptake and accumulation in alfalfa shoots and roots. The strategies of alfalfa cultivars to cope with NaCl stress includes exclusion of Na from shoots and Cl from roots or from the whole plant depending on cultivar and NaCl level. The reduction in shoot dry weight was not related to water stress or reduction in Ca, Mg, or chlorophyll concentrations. Results of this study indicated that the reduction in K ion uptake and more directly the toxic effects of high Na and Cl in plant tissues contributed to the reduction in shoot dry weight . The possible subpartitioning of Na and Cl ions between different tissues, cell types, cell components, and/or the different changes in protein structure and enzyme activity at the high Na and Cl concentrations, independent of total concentration of ions, might also contribute to differences in salt tolerance (shoot dry weight) among cultivars. The factors determining shoot dry weight in alfalfa grown under the different NaCl treatments of this study were not the same for all cultivars. Sodium chloride stress induced qualitative and quantitative changes in shoot and root proteins of alfalfa. These changes were dependent on cultivar and salt concentration, as well as length of exposure to salt stress.

Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area is one of many marshlands bordering the Great Salt Lake that are extremely important as breeding habitats for North American waterfowl. Salinity, both of surface and interstitial waters, is an important factor in maintaining a suitable habitat within the marsh. For this reason, a study was undertaken to determine the factors affecting the salinity of surface and interstitial waters. A small (approx. 100 acre) subunit was studied extensively to determine; 1) variations in surface water salinity with flowrate and water level; and 2) variation in interstitial water salinity with depth and location within the subunit. Field data indicated a substantial increase in salinity (as measured by electrical conductance) with depth in the interstitial waters. Wide variation in interstitial water conductivities was also observed within the study unit. Of major significance were large increases in interstitial water salinities in areas where the soil had dried, due to a low water level, and again re-wetted. This was in contrast to relatively constant soil water salinily observed in areas that were perenially flooded In addition to the field study, a laboratory study, using three 20 cm diameter undisturbed soil cores, was performed to determine the factors affecting the movement of salts through the marsh soils. The surface and bottom of the cores were fed with fresh water and brine, respectively, for a period of three months, while interstitial water samples were taken to monitor changes in soil water conductivities with depth of soil. A computer model was developed to simulate the experiment, as well as to help interpret the experimental results. The comparison between the observed data and data predicted by the model, as well as the results of the field data,' indicated that the major mechanisms affecting fluctuations in soil water salinity in the Ogden Bay marsh system is the movement of water through the soil.

A model is developed to predict the effects of soil salinity on crop growth. As an outgrowth and extension of the modelling efforts of Nimah and Hanks (1973a) and Gupta (1972), this model makes these principal assumptions in order to arrive at a quantitative relationship: 1) relative yield for a growing season is directly related to the ratio of actual and potential transpiration. 2) Water uptake by plants is in response to the water potential gradient between the plant at the soil surface and the soil surrounding the plant roots. 3) the effect of salinity on crop growth is solely due to the effect of osmotic potential in decreasing the water potential gradient. In addition, minor assumptions are made regarding plant cover growth, plant root growth, and separation of E and T from ET. The model was tested to assess its accuracy and was then used to make calculations regarding the relationships of plant growth, irrigation amount and water quality, initial soil salinity, and crop type. Due to the presence of a water table at two meters in the simulations, deep rooted crops showed the best growth under most conditions. Decreases in irrigation and increases in soil salinity were detrimental to crop growth. Irrigation water quality was not effective in decreasing crop growth in one season but was shown to be a factor in long term calculations. Simulations of ten-year management schemes are shown in order to demonstrate long term effects. Finally, a method is presented to evaluate different irrigation systems and calculations are made which compare a flood irrigation system and a sprinkler system.

No description available.

An analysis to determine physical and spatial patterns of the surface latent heat flux (LHF) and near surface (5m) salinity (NSS) beneath tropical cyclones (TCs) in the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins during the first 24 hours of rapid intensification (RI) was conducted using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. To determine if these patterns were unique to RI, TC RI cases were compared to three non-RI intensification thresholds, 10 kt, 15 kt and 20 kt, for both LHF and NSS. Though similarities exist between non-RI and RI cases physical and spatial patterns unique to the RI cases did exist. Sea surface temperatures associated with statistically identified TC groups were assessed for their potential influence on RI. While inconclusive in the eastern North Pacific, NSS in the Atlantic may play a role for RI TCs in areas affected by river discharge from South America.

Salinity is a critical challenge facing productivity of crops around the world, causing major reduction in growth, yield, and quality. It is necessary to produce varieties with the ability to tolerate salinity. However, the lack of genetic variation among H. vulgare genotypes prevents progress in developing salt tolerant varieties. H. bulbosum is a source of tolerance to stress conditions. Consequently, five accessions of domestic barley and six of wild barley were used in this study. Accessions were screened for salinity tolerance. Genotypes 7, 9, and 10 germinated at 2% NaCl. Lines of H. vulgare showed reduction of root and shoot length greater than H. bulbosum. Crosses were made between diploid and tetraploid H. vulgare ♀ and tetraploid H. bulbosum ♂. Immature embryos were rescued. Murashige and Skoog medium was found to be generally better for most crosses. Number of successful crosses varied among families. Female 5, for diploid crosses, and female 2, for tetraploid crosses, have high GCA and compatibility with bulbosum males, and 17.9% and 17.6% of their progeny exceeding the mean grain yield, respectively. Parent 9 had also high GCA and compatibility with vulgare parents (2x), and its progeny seem to exceed the mean in many cases with most families. During germination screening, progeny of diploid females 1 and 2 were found to be highly desirable for saline tolerance. Among the tetraploid crosses, Family 1 had greatest percentage of superior progeny (18.8%), while Families 2 and 3 had greatest number of superior individuals (8 and 7, respectively). For seedling growth, diploid Families 2 and 3 crosses had the greatest shoot dry weight and tolerant saline index (SSI<1). Families 2 and 4 of tetraploid crosses had 12 of 39 and eight of 26 crosses show greatest shoot dry weight and tolerance as measured by SSI, respectively. Final germination percentage (FG%) showed positive association with plant height, while associating negatively with tiller number, fertility, cSW, and grain yield. In diploid crosses, FG% associated positively with tiller number. Shoot dry weight showed negative association with plant height, while it associated positively with tiller number, fertility, cSW, and grain yield.

The alligator gar Atractosteus spatula is a euryhaline fish found in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding drainages. However, the extent of its hypo-osmotic abilities are not well understood. To determine effect of salinity on growth, metabolic rate, and osmoregulation abilities the following question was developed: when does the alligator gar have the osmoregulatory capabilities to survive in hyperosmotic environments? To answer this question, two different age groups (60 and 330 days after hatch [DAH]) of juvenile alligator gar were exposed to 4 different salinities (0, 8, 16, and 24 ppt) for a 30-day period. Specific growth rate, oxygen consumption rate, plasma osmolality, plasma ion concentrations, tissue Na+, K+-ATPase activities, and drinking rate were measured. I determined that the 60 DAH alligator gar had a greater ability to grow and regulate ions than did the 330 DAH alligator gar in increased salinity.

The Pocket-book mussel, Lampsilis ovata, is a native freshwater bivalve species that is endemic to North America. The salinity tolerance of this species is of interest because anthropogenic salinization events and climate change factors threaten their natural freshwater habitats. Furthermore, the invasive freshwater bivalve species Corbicula fluminea has been shown to display significant salinity tolerance, which may lead to negative competitive interactions with native freshwater bivalve species if the salinization of freshwater habitats exceeds thresholds beyond which native species can effectively cope. It was hypothesized that L. ovata would be sensitive to salinity conditions above 1 g/L and respond by closing their valves. To investigate this, juvenile pocket-book mussels were subjected to three experiments which measured tissue-water content, hemolymph osmolality, and oxygen consumption after salinity exposure to 0, 2.5, 5, and 10 g/L. The 96-hour exposure study showed that the 2.5 g/L and 5 g/L treatment groups had significantly lower average percent tissue-water content than the control group. The average percent tissue-water content for mussels exposed to 2.5 g/L and 5 g/L dropped 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively. In the 24-hour time-course study, it was observed that changes in the average percent tissue-water content for all treatment groups primarily occurred after four hours of exposure. In the same study, the osmolality of the control group maintained an average of 31.2 mOsm/kg over the 24-hour period, despite the osmolality of the treatment water being 2 mOsm/kg. The hemolymph osmolality concentration of mussels exposed to the 2.5 g/L and 5 g/L treatments increased to osmotically conform to their treatment waters. After 24 hours, the hemolymph osmolality of the 2.5 g/L and 5 g/L treatment groups was 79 mOsm/kg and 163 mOsm/kg, respectively. Contrastingly, the osmolality of mussels exposed to the 10 g/L treatment maintained an average hemolymph osmolality of approximately 132 mOsm/kg, while the osmolality of the treatment water was 320 mOsm/kg. Lastly, the oxygen-consumption study showed that mussels exposed to the 5 g/L treatment consumed a significantly lower amount of dissolved oxygen than that of the control and the 2.5 g/L treatment by an average of 1.6 mg O2/mg/h. The control group consumed an average of 4.66 mg O2/mg/h, while the 2.5 g/L treatment group consumed the highest amount of dissolved oxygen with an average of 5.05 mg O2/mg/h. The data collected from these studies suggest that juvenile L. ovata might not be able to tolerate salinities greater than 2.5 g/L for an extended amount of time. Mussels exposed to the 5 g/L treatment and the 10 g/L treatment demonstrated varying degrees of behavioral avoidance and much higher morbidity rates. In contrast, the 2.5 g/L treatment group showed minimal behavioral avoidance and an elevated oxygen consumption rate. When compared to similar studies performed on C. fluminea, these results support the hypothesis that L. ovata is more sensitive to saline conditions than the invasive species and could be replaced by the invasive species if habitat conditions exceeded 2.5 g/L salinity.

Overfishing of natural fisheries is a global issue that is becoming more urgent as the human population increases exponentially. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, over 70% of the world's seafood species are fully exploited or depleted. This high demand for seafood protein is not going away; and, in fact, an astonishing one out of five people in this world depend on this source of protein. Traditional aquaculture practices use pond and flow-through systems which are often responsible for discharging pollutants into the environment. Furthermore, aquacultural feeds often contain high levels of fish protein, so the demand on wild fisheries is not completely eased. Even though traditional aquaculture has these drawbacks, there is a significant movement towards more sustainable practices. For example, implementing recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) maximizes the reuse of culture water which decreases water demand and minimizes the levels of pollutants being discharged to the environment. And, alternative proteins (e.g., soy bean) are replacing the fish and seafood proteins in aquaculture diets. Accordingly, the research described in this dissertation focused on maximizing the reuse of freshwater fish effluent to culture marine shrimp. More specifically, by using suspended-growth biological reactors to treat a tilapia effluent waste stream and to generate microbial flocs that could be used to support shrimp culture. This RAS technology will decrease water consumption by increasing the amount of recycled water and will also improve effluent water quality. The biomass generated in the bioreactors could be used to feed shrimp with an alternative source of protein. Treating fish effluent to be reused to culture shrimp while producing this alternative feed, could significantly decrease operational costs and make these operations more sustainable. Understanding which ions are critical for the survival and normal growth of marine shrimp in freshwater effluents is essential. It is also very important to understand how to convert an effluent's organic matter into food for shrimp. Results from studies revealed that the marine shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, can be raised in freshwater effluent when supplemented with specific ions and wet microbial flocs fed directly to shrimp can enhance growth in shrimp fed a restricted ration of commercial feed. The treatability of the tilapia effluent using suspended-growth, biological reactors and nutritional analysis of the generated biomass were also reported. Carbon supplementation enhanced reactor performance and microbial floc generation. These microbial flocs also proved to be a superior feed ingredient when dried and incorporated into a pellet feed. / Ph. D.