Developing the first halophytic turfgrasses for the urban landscape from native Arabian desert grass
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ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN HEALTH
Developing the first halophytic turfgrasses for the urban landscape from native Arabian desert grass Muhammad Zamin 1,2 & Shah Fahad 2 & Abdul Mateen Khattak 3 & Muhammad Adnan 2 & Fazli Wahid 2 & Ahmad Raza 2 & Depeng Wang 4 & Shah Saud 5 & Muhammad Noor 6 & Hafiz Faiq Bakhat 7 & Muhammad Mubeen 7 & Hafiz Mohkum Hammad 7 & Mona. H. Soliman 8,9 & Amr A. Elkelish 10 & Muhammad Riaz 11 & Wajid Nasim 7,12,13,14 Received: 30 May 2019 / Accepted: 15 August 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Climate change is occurring and is influencing biological systems through augmented temperatures, more inconstant precipitation, and rising CO2 in the atmosphere. For sustainable landscaping, it was essential to assess the diversity of native/wild grasses and their suitability for turf and to combat the salinity problem in the region. For this purpose, a native halophytic grass, Aeluropus lagopoides, was investigated by conducting mowing tests on its ecotypes during the year 2014–2016 under desert climatic conditions. The research was carried out in two phases, i.e. Phase-I was for collection and establishment of ecotypes from various parts of UAE, while in Phase-II, mowing tests were conducted. During mowing tests, 50 ecotypes of A. lagopoides were given various mowing treatments (i.e. they were cut back at 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-cm heights) in field conditions. Significant differences were found among various ecotypes for different agronomic parameters such as ground cover, canopy stiffness, leaf number, clippings fresh and dry weights and internode length. Overall, the grass exhibited better performance at mowing heights of 3 and 4 cm, which are the standard mowing heights for turfgrasses. Ecotypes FA5, RA3, RUDA2, RUDA7 and RUADA1 of A. lagopoides showed the best performance against mowing shock and became the candidates for the turfgrass varieties from the native Arabian flora. Keywords Salinity . Native grass . Sustainable landscaping . Canopy stiffness . Aeluropus lagopoides
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues * Shah Fahad [email protected]
7
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Islamabad 61100, Pakistan
* Depeng Wang [email protected]
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Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, El-Bahr, Yanbu 46429, Saudi Arabia
* Wajid Nasim [email protected]
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Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
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Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
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Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Government College University Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad, Pakistan
1
Department of Arid land Agriculture, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE
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Department of Agriculture, University of Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
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Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences, The University of Agriculture,
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