Assessment of salt tolerance in eucalypts using chlorophyll fluorescence attributes

Abstract

Chlorophyll fluorescence attributes were investigated for their potential as rapid, non-invasive indices of salt stress in eucalypts. After representative clones of E. camaldulensis and E. urophylla x grandis were subjected to salinity treatments, dark-adapted and quenching attributes did not show consistent responses to salinity stress. The light-adapted attribute Fds, when measured in a controlled environment, did decline, often before physical symptoms of stress were visible. This value is required for the derivation of the effective quantum yield, and each measurement can be acquired and automatically recorded in a few seconds, permitting the rapid survey of large groups in a propagation..