Salinity Differentially Affects Growth and Ecophysiology of Two Mastic Tree (Pistacia lentiscus L.) Accessions

Pistacia lentiscus (Anacardiaceae; mastic tree) is an evergreen sclerophyll species, largely distributed in dry areas of the Mediterranean basin and well-adapted to severe conditions of drought in very unfertile soils. In the present study, we evaluated the growing responses of two accessions of P. lentiscus to three different levels of salinity under nursery conditions. The two mastic tree accessions (Manfredonia and Specchia) were collected from individual trees in two different sites in the Apulia region (Southern Italy) and subjected to three different levels of salinization by adding 0, 400, and 800 g of salts 100 L ́1 of substrate, respectively. The following parameters were recorded: plant height; survival of plants and total root length; total biomass; number of leaves per plant and leaf area; as well as various ecophysiological traits. Salinity reduced the values of all the examined parameters, both morphological and physiological. Results suggested that P. lentiscus can tolerate and accumulate salt at high concentrations in nursery conditions. As a result, it is important to identify germplasm that is highly tolerant to salinity for the production of nursery seedlings that will be planted in saline soils.