Halophytes And Climate Change

This book contains current knowledge and the most recent developments in the field of halophyte biology, ecology, and potential uses. Halophytes are characterised as plants that can survive and complete their life cycle in highly saline environments. This book explores the adaptive mechanisms and special features of halophytes that allow them to grow in environments that are unsuitable for conventional crops and considers their role as a source of food, fuel, fodder, fibre, essential oils, and medicines. Halophytes and Climate Change includes coverage of: - Special morphological, anatomical, and physiological features of halophytes - Ion accumulation patterns and homeostasis in halophytes - Potential use of halophytes in the remediation of saline soil - Growth and physiological response and tolerance to toxicity and drought - Mangrove ecology, physiology, and adaptation Written by a team of international authors and presented in full colour, this book is an essential resource for researchers in the fields of plant physiology, ecology, soil science, environmental science, botany, and agriculture.

Halophytes are a fascinating group of wild plants adapted to highly saline natural habitats, where most plant species and all our conventional crops would not survive. In fact, some halophytes can withstand even seawater salinity. In the current climate change scenario, increasing average temperatures and drought episodes contribute to the accelerated salinisation of irrigated cropland, especially in arid and semiarid regions, by the progressive accumulation in the soil of salts dissolved in irrigation water. This 'secondary salinisation' is one of the major causes of reducing crop yields worldwide. In this context, halophytes represent ideal experimental systems to investigate the mechanisms plants use to respond to high-salinity conditions. This knowledge will be essential for the genetic improvement of crop salt tolerance, which represents the most sensible strategy to address the abovementioned problem. Furthermore, halophytes could be the basis of a sustainable, 'saline' agriculture, after domestication and some breeding to improve agronomic characteristics. Then, they could be commercially cultivated for food, feed, fibre, or the production of biomolecules of industrial interest. Since they could be grown in saline land and irrigated with brackish water, they will not compete with our conventional crops for these limited resources, fertile land and good-quality water for irrigation. The articles included in this Special Issue address these different aspects of halophytes' research, although most focus on basic studies on salt-tolerance mechanisms.

Halophytes for Food Security in Dry Lands addresses the concerns surrounding global food scarcity, especially focusing on those living in arid and dry lands The book touches on food crises in dry regions of the world and proposes halophytes as an alternate source of consumption for such areas. Halophytes, those plants that thrive in saline soil and provide either food source options themselves, or positively enhance an eco-system’s ability to produce food, and are thus an important and increasingly recognized option for addressing the needs of the nearly 1/6 of the world’s population that lives in these arid and semi-arid climates. Including presentations from the 2014 International Conference on Halophytes for Food Security in Dry Lands, this book features insights from the leading researchers in the subject. It is a valuable resource that includes information on the nutritional value of halophytes, their genetic basis and potential enhancement, adaption of halophytes, and lessons learned thus far. Provides comprehensive coverage of the importance and utilization of halophytes to compensate the demand of food in whole world especially in the dry regions Contains insights from ecological to molecular fields Includes edible halophytes as well as those that enhance food-producing eco-systems Presents information for improving abiotic stress tolerance in plants

This book highlights the approaches for achieving trans-disciplinary research integration for “semi-arid dryland agriculture systems” under changing climates, while also identifying the elements of a collaborative research agenda that are needed to advance global food security. The book emphasizes climate change being a reality and how drylands are bearing the brunt in diverse ways. The major impact of dryland agriculture is on communities that need to: avoid the short- and long-term impacts of the changing climate; adapt strategies that can minimize these impacts; and be able to mitigate climate change, for which they need climate smart interventions. These interventions are only realized through knowledge and experience sharing among stakeholders from different sectors and backgrounds. It is in this context that the publication was seen as a necessity in order to bring together ideas that will transform lives and build adaptation capacities, thereby providing the much-needed products in communities leading to development

Biology of Halophytes is a monograph on the biological aspects of halophytes and their behavior under saline conditions. It explores the physioecological characteristics of halophytes, such as reproduction, growth, metabolism, water relations, mineral nutrition, salt transport, salt secretion, and salt resistance. It also provides ecological information on higher marine plants, particularly submerged angiosperms, mangroves, and high coast plants. Organized into 16 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of sources of salinity and the development and nature of salines and salt-affected soils. It proceeds with a discussion of the classification of halophytes, their mutual relationships, distribution, and sociology. It also summarizes autecological information on some terrestrial halophytes and introduces the reader to the formative effects of salinity, interrelationships between plants and spatial distribution within the community, ion transport and mineral nutrition, and regulation of salt content of shoots, before concluding with a short review on ecotypic differentiation in halophytes. This book will be a valuable resource for advanced students, as well as teachers of plant and environmental sciences.

The global population is projected to increase by 3.3 billion from 6.7 billion in 2008 to 10 billion in 2100. As a result, soil degradation and desertification are growing due to the increasing demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel on finite soil resources. The problem of global food insecurity may be further worsened by the threat of global warming. Climate change is showing its impacts in terms of increasing temperatures, variable rainfall, and an increase in climate-related extremes such as floods, droughts, cyclones, sea-level rise, salinity, and soil erosion. The agriculture sector is the most sensitive to climate change because the climate of a region/country determines the nature and characteristics of vegetation and crops. Increase in the mean seasonal temperature and decrease in effective precipitation can reduce the duration of many crops, may lead to outbreaks of pests and diseases, and hence reduce final yield ultimately affecting the food security of the country. Despite the positive impact of CO2 fertilization, the net productivity may decrease because of an increase in respiration rate, drought stress, and nutrient deficiency. For example, for every 75 ppm increase in CO2 concentration, rice yields will increase by 0.5 t/ha, but the yield will decrease by 0.6 t/ha for every 1°C increase in temperature. The global agricultural productivity is expected to decrease from 3% to 16% by 2080. The estimated decrease in agricultural productivity in the developing countries is 10%–25% in the 2080s, where average air temperature is already near or above crop tolerance levels. This book is intended to serve as a stimulating collection that will contribute to debate and reflection on the sustainable future of agriculture and food production in the face of global change. Features: This book brings together a multidimensional group of international scholars exploring the ethical dimensions of climate change and ecosystem. New strategies have been pointed out in this book for better sustainable development. This book has been designed to provide a good overview of major challenges facing policymakers, researchers, and ultimately humankind in dealing with climate change. This book summarizes the diverse features of vulnerability, adaptation, and amelioration of climate change in respect to plants, crops, soil, and microbes for the sustainability of the agricultural sector, and, ultimately, food security for the future. This book provides a state-of-the-art description of the physiological, biochemical, and molecular status of the understanding of abiotic stress in plants.

This edited book deals with the distribution, classification and diversity of halophytic ecosystems, ecology of mangroves, coastal agroforestry, adaptations and mechanisms of salt tolerance in glycophytes verses halophytes, scope of biosaline agriculture, and potential utilization of halophytes in abiotic stressed environments in arid and semiarid regions and coastal areas. In this era of global population increase and global environmental change, there is need to provide food to the ever-growing population, combating climate change and conserving biodiversity. Keeping in view the rich biodiversity of halophytes, there is wide scope in food industry, phytoremediation, as well as a source of bioactive compounds including modern drugs. The new technologies for the cultivation of halophytes help to utilize saline and arid wastelands and also waterlogged areas sustainably for humans and the livestock. This book creates interest in educationists, researchers, industrialists, investors, soil and climate change scientists, development/extension workers, environmentalists, policy/decision makers, and government and non-government organizations. Also, the book serves as reference material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences. National and international soil and agricultural scientists, ecologists, policy makers will also find this book immensely useful.

This book presents the state-of-the-art in plant ecophysiology. With a particular focus on adaptation to a changing environment, it discusses ecophysiology and adaptive mechanisms of plants under climate change. Over the centuries, the incidence of various abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, extreme temperatures, atmospheric pollution, metal toxicity due to climate change have regularly affected plants and, and some estimates suggest that environmental stresses may reduce the crop yield by up to 70%. This in turn adversely affects the food security. As sessile organisms, plants are frequently exposed to various environmental adversities. As such, both plant physiology and plant ecophysiology begin with the study of responses to the environment. Provides essential insights, this book can be used for courses such as Plant Physiology, Environmental Science, Crop Production and Agricultural Botany. Volume 1 provides up-to-date information on the impact of climate change on plants, the general consequences and plant responses to various environmental stresses.