Effect of Water Stress on Acacia senegal Seedlings from Different Seed Sources in Kordofan, Sudan
Yahia I. M. Abutaba
Department of Forestry and Range Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Kordofan, Elobied, Sudan.
Tagwa M. Faragallaa
Department of Forestry and Range Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of East Kordofan, Sudan.
Muneer E. S. Eltahir *
Institute of Gum Arabic Research and Desertification Studies, University of Kordofan, Elobied, Sudan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The aim of this research to investigate the effect of drought and water pressure of Acacia senegal seedlings on different seed sources in Kordofan. The experiment was designed with a Randomized Complete Design of three replicates and three seed sources namely Elmazroub, Elrahad and Abassya and three irrigation levels (100, 50 and 25) % field capacity and two types of soil namely sandy and clay. Seedlings measurements were recorded (length, number of branches, number of leaves, and root collar diameter) and at the end of the experiment destroyed samples were taken to find out the biomass. Analysis of Variance was used as well as multiple Range Test. Results of showed that there were significant differences between the different sources of Acacia senegal tree in most of the measured variables. Elmazroub seed source was recorded as the best in term of water stress. The results indicated that the most appropriate field capacity for irrigation is 50% irrigation in both sandy and clay soils. Elmazroub plants showed that the best biomass for seedlings, with an average (1.0 g). The ability of Acacia senegal seedlings to overcome them according to their different environments and drought was a dominant factor in resisting water stress. It is recommended to investigate effect of drought on Acacia senegal seedlings after plantation in the field.
Keywords: Chromosomes, Acacia Senegal, Noctuidae, drought, Modal Number, irrigation, seedlings, water stress, gum Arabic