沙漠研究 24-1, 137-140 (2014)
Ἃ₍◊✲ 24-1, 137 - 140 (2014)
Journal of Arid Land Studies
Journal of Arid Land Studies－ DT11 Refereed Paper －㸫DT11 Refereed Paper㸫

Adaptable Features of Annual Halophytes to the Conditions of Arid Zones andthe Prospects for their Potential Use to Global Warming and Biotechnology
Dilafruz ARIFKHANOVA*1), Tura RAKHIMOVA 2) and Sanobar ILIAKHUNOVA3)
Abstract: In the agenda for the 21st century much attention is paid to the study of arid ecosystems and restoration of degradedecosystems. Species adapted to arid conditions have a dominant role in the vegetation of the arid zone. Annuals of theChenopodiaceae family belong to this species. Based on the adaptive characteristics the species is divided into ecologic groups:
hyperxerophyte and euxerophyte. The hyperxerophyte group has all-round adaptability that includes reduced assimilative organs,high specialization, deep penetrating root system, well-balanced aquatic regime indices. According to their characteristics, thehyperxerophyte group is divided into subgroups: succulents and sclerophyte. Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch., Salsola paulseniiLitv., Salsola.sclerantha C. A. Mey being in the first group, Girgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl. in the second, and the last one
having sclerophylic structure and less stable aquatic regime. Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk. belongs to the euxerophyte group,
having a strongly pronounced biological adaptability that includes advanced growth phase, feebly marked early ontogeny stages, andreplacement of laminate spring leaves by needle-shaped ones. Their aquatic regime is labile. This plant is very adaptable to drought
and salinity, as hyperxerophyte and hypergalophyte. Hyperxerophytes and hypergalophytes - Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch.,and others, have potential for surface improvement of degraded pastures as drought-resistant plants and decrease the amount of salt inthe soil. They also can be used for biotechnology purposes and sustainable development.
Key Words: Halophyte, Hypergalophyte, Hyperxerophyte, Xerothermic period

2. Materials and Methods

1. Introduction
Due to global warming increasing desertification,
degradation of vegetation, and soil salinity impacted by theAral Sea, the study of the adaptive features of summer
vegetation plants of arid zones of Central Asia is very
important.
Species with a wide range of biological, morphological,and ecological adaptive traits play a dominant role in thevegetation of arid zones. The annual halophytes are one ofthese dominate plant species. Water relations of plants, incombination with their structural and functional features, often
limit viability in arid zones. Among the adaptive features of
the annual thistle are the type of root systems, the power of
their development, the ability for the reduction of the leaf blade,and the relationship of indicators of water requirements whichplay a special role. Research by Grigoriev (1950) inTajikistan, Rahimova (1975) in the Kyzyl-Kum, Rahimova(1195-1997) in the Fergana adyrs and Butnik (1983) in theKyzyl-Kum have been dedicated to the study of adaptive
characteristics of arid zone plants.

* Corresponding Author: dilafruz0770@mail.ru

The objects of our research were representatives ofhyperxerophytes: Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch.; Salsolapaulsenii Litv.; S. sclerantha C. A. Mey.; Girgensohniaoppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl.; and the euxerophyte Ceratoecarpus
utriculosus Bluk.
A comparative study of indices of water regimes, contentof water in the assimilative organs (by gravometrical method)(Nichiporovich, 1926), intensity of transpiration (Ivanov et al.,1950), water deficit (Shatckiy, 1960) and osmotic pressure(Gusev, 1960) was conducted. The soil moisture was taken
into account up to 150 cm depth by Rode’s method (1969).
Study areas are the Chust-Pap and Chartak adyrs of
Ferghana Valley, which are in close proximity to the desert
climate. The study area experienced a dry summer, wetspring and fall, of short duration, but a rather severe winter.
The Chust-Pap adyrs are the most arid. In this area, rainfall
averages 168 mm/year according to long-term data.
Long-term data indicate an average temperature of 14.1ºC andan absolute maximum of 45ºC, with an absolute minimum of-28ºC. Relative humidity is 58%. Soil is light gray withstony-gravelly, texture developed on loamy-gravelly
㸦Received, September 15th, 2013; Accepted, March 6th, 2014㸧

Al-Khorazmi str.,Tashkent, Uzbekistan postcode:100169
1) Al-Khorazmi str.,Tashkent, Uzbekistan postcode:100169
2) Postal address: 36, Nazimakhonum str., Tashkent, Uzbekistan postcode:100179

3) Postal address: 9, Karimov str.,Tashkent, Uzbekistan postcode: 100189

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sediments.
In the Chartak adyrs average temperature is 12.9ºC, with anabsolute maximum of 40ºC. The relative humidity is 63.7%
with an average yearly rainfall of 243.8 mm. Soils of thisarea are typical gray soils and light gray soils from coarse tofine textured, slightly saline. For every 100 cm of soil layer,
the moisture content in soil from April to July decreases from
4.2% to 1.7%.

3. Results and Discussion
The studied plants are distinguished by the structure of theleaves and the types of the root system:- Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk. has lanceolate leaves
3-3.5 cm long and up to 3 mm in width, with needle-likeshoots on top. In the hot season lanceolate leaves dry andremain needle-shaped. The root system is of thestick-type weakly branched, up to 70-80 cm in depth.
- Girgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl leaves - in April,leaves are 3 cm in length, by summer they are dry. The
root system is of the stick-type to fly up to, up to 135 cm indepth.
- Salsola sclerantha C. A. Mey leaf size varies from 10 mm
to 0.5 mm from April to mid-summer and leaves arelanceolate-shaped. The root system in July is up to90-100 cm in depth and of the rod type.
- Salsola paulsenii Litv. leaves per stem range from 5-6 cm,
they decrease closer to the top of the shoot. The rootsystem of the stick-type reaches 130-150 cm in depth, with
5-6 lateral roots.
- Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch- leaves are up to 1-1.5
cm long. A.A. Butnik notes: “That the early developmentof the plant leaf traces in the axis is one way to adapt toenvironmental conditions seedlings”. The shoot of themature plant reaches up to 35 cm; the root system is of therod type with a depth up to 180-200 cm.
In analyzing of the performance of the water relations ofstudied annuals it is revealed that Climacoptera lanata (Pall.)Botsch and Salsola paulsenii Litv exhibited the most stable andhigh water content in the assimilation shoots during thegrowing season. The highest average daily values of watercontent in Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch is 86.5%, and81.4% in Salsola paulsenii Litv. in April, and the lowest
average daily rates in August at -75%. The lowest watercontent during the season occurs in Ceratoecarpus utriculosus
Bluk: from 71% in April to 30.2% in August average per day.
Salsola.sclerantha C. A. Mey and Girgensohnia oppositiflora(Pall.) Fenzl., are in an intermediate position. Comparison oftranspiration showed that the types differ in the frequency ofoccurrence of the most common values.
The mosteconomical consumption of water by transpiration differs in
Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch with 95% of units with lowtranspiration - from 0 to 300 mg / g h ; above 400 mg / g htranspiration rate is not found. Salsola.sclerantha C. A.
Mey’s transpiration rate was from 0 to 300 mg / g h andoccured in 82% of cases. For Salsola paulsenii Litv. andGirgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenz., these rates are foundonly in 43-45% of cases, and in some cases transpiration rate
reached up to 800 mg / g h. Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk
had the highest level of the process: the rate of transpirationfrom 0 to 300 mg / g h occurs in 38% of cases and highervalues up to 1600 mg / g h were observed. Thus stable andlow seasonal variation transpiration was observed in
Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch and Salsola sclerantha C.
A. Mey. It is less stable in Salsola paulsenii Litv., andGirgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl., The highest rate oftranspiration occurs in Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk.
The excess water consumption over absorption leads torecurrent water scarcity in transpiring plant parts. Water
scarcity indicates the degree of resistance of plants to drought.
The lowest water deficit was observed in Climacoptera lanata(Pall.) Botsch, Salsola paulsenii Litv. From spring to summer,
water increases only slightly, from 9.9% to 17.4% in
Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch, and from 11.7% to 20%
on average per day in Salsola paulsenii Litv.. Girgensohnia
oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl. and Salsola.sclerantha C. A. Mey.’swater deficit is significantly higher, from 11.7% to 28% on
average per day which results in a significant drying of theleaves in the summer. The highest rates of water deficit occur
in Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk. As early as April, thedeficit is 18%, and with the onset of xerothermic period it rises
up to 52%.
According to the osmotic pressure of the studied species
the following patterns are observed: Climacoptera lanata(Pall.) Botsch, Salsola paulsenii Litv., and Salsola sclerantha C.
A. Mey. grow from spring to summer slightly (6-20 atm);
Girgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl. has a higher
performance from 9-30 atm. A significant increase inosmotic pressure occurs in Seratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk.,from 9-33 atm.
Water-holding capacity is one of the universal indicators ofa plant’s resistance to drought. It should be noted that in all
studied species, except Seratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk, water
holding capacity increases from spring to summer. A
significant increase in water retention was observed in
Girgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl. In the three otherspecies water retention was consistently high and increases
slightly. In Seratoecarpus utriculosus the reverse process
takes place (i.e. water-holding capacity decreases from spring
to summer.)

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In the mathematical analysis of various indicators of water
regime: water content (WC), water-holding capacity (WHC),
transpiration rate (TR) and the osmotic pressure (OP))
determined the correlation coefficient between them.
According to Figure 1, in the spring for Climacoptera lanata(Pall.) Botsch an inverse relationship can be seen between WC,
TR and OP. At high water contents low transpiration andslight osmotic performance were observed. In the summer
months, with a decrease in WC, TR is reduced, but the water
deficit and osmotic rates rise. Increasing the osmotic pressure
leads to an increase in retention capacity. The correlationshows that the basis of the stability of the water relations ofdrought in Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch is a close
correlation between water content, water retention, andosmotic pressure.
There is a direct relationship between WC and TR ofSalsola paulsenii Litv, i.e. in spring with a high WC we see ahigh TR, and in summer with a decrease of WC, a reduction ofTR is observed. The inverse relationship exists between WC,
OP and WHC. With a decrease of WC the osmotic pressure,water-holding capacity, and water scarcity increase. There isa high correlation (0.9), between WHC and WC, WHC and TR,
WHC and OP of Salsola paulsenii Litv. Water-holding
capacity of the plant is also a determining factor in theregulation of water relations.
There is an inverse relationship between the WC and TR of
Salsola sclerantha C. A. Mey, (i.e. high in WC assimilation
shoots and low TR , as well as low Water deficit and OP). Insummer, with a WC decrease, water deficit increases and TR isslightly lower. There is an inverse relationship between theWC and WHC. As WC increases, WHC rises, leading to adecrease in TR. Between water deficit and OP there is adirect relationship and increasing water deficit causes anincrease in osmotic indicators. The high coefficient ofcorrelation was observed between TR, OP and WHC, and also
between the WHC and other indicators.
Girgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl’s water content isslightly lower than the above species. Despite this, in spring
TR is relatively high, i.e. there is a direct relationship. Water
deficit and osmotic indicators were also higher with an inverse
relationship with relatively low WHC. By the summer, watercontent and transpiration is reduced - there is a direct
correlation between these parameters. Water deficit andosmotic rates rise significantly, leading to an increase inwater-holding capacity. Between the WHC and TR there is aclose correlation. And also there is a close correlation
between the WHC and the OP, WC and TR, and OP and TR.
That is, the regulation of the water relations in these species isdue to an increase of the WHC and OP for the summer.
Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk differs from other species.

Fig. 1. The relationship of indicators of water relations (the numbers
indicate the correlation of water regime).
1- Ceratoecarpus utriculosus Bluk
2- Girgensohnia oppositiflora (Pall.) Fenzl
3- Salsola.sclerantha C.A. Mey
4- Salsola paulsenii Litv
5- Climacoptera lanata (Pall.) Botsch.

At relatively slight water content there is a high TR. The highwater deficit and OP are inversely related to the low WHC.
With decreasing water content in summer the TR falls. The
water deficit and OP continue to rise, while the WHC isreduced. A high coefficient of correlation is observed
between the WC and WHC, WC and OP, WHC and TR.
As observed, decreases in water content cause the tensionof other indicators of water regime. In the studied species a
number of common features of adaptation are revealed:- the rapid penetration of the root system into the deep soil

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in the early stages of ontogeny. If the plant height is 3-4
cm , the root is 10 times or more greater than its height
for the fastest achievement of the moist soil horizons;
reduction of transpiring ability or replacement of large
leaves with smaller leaves in order to reduce the surface
area of evaporation;
the balanced water relations and the close correlation
between the indices in hyper xerophytes and biological
adaptation in euxerophytes.

4. Conclusions
Our research revealed the following:- The studied annual halophytes are adapted to the arid
conditions through structural functionality and biologicalcharacteristics.
- The complex adaptive traits of the studied annual thistles
indicate potential for their use in improving the surface ofdegraded pastures.
- Productivity of the studied species depends on theconditions of meteorological communities and theabundance of super organisms up to 15 centner per
hectare.

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Gusev N.A. (1960): Some methods of investigation of thewater regime of plants. Edition of Academy of Sciences of
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Nichiporovich A.A. (1926): The loss of water cut of parts ofplants during wilting. Journal Experimental AgronomySouth-East, 1: 76-92.
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