Abstract
Worldwide waterlogging is a matter of great concern affecting 16% of cultivated area in the United States, agricultural lands of Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and India. This issue affects woody plants distribution as it not only restricts the seed germination but reproductive and vegetative growth, are also influenced that results in mortality of plants. It disturbs the soil physicochemical attributes that ultimately reduces the growth and physiological characteristics of various trees species. Therefore, an experiment was conducted in the research area of Department of Forestry and Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad to determine the waterlogging tolerance potential and growth of commercially important tree species. Different farm friendly tree species: Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Dehnh.), Populus deltoides (W. Bartram.), Dalbergia sissoo (Roxb.), Salix tetrasperma (Roxb.) and Syzygium cumini (L.) were selected and their growth (plant height, shoot length, shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, stem diameter) and physiological attributes (photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and chlorophyll content) were measured under various waterlogging durations (24, 48, 72 and 96 hours) including control (normal irrigation). Results revealed that E. camaldulensis exhibited best waterlogging tolerance potential (plant height 83.7cm, shoot length 77.1cm, shoot fresh and dry weight 41.20g & 23.1g, root fresh and dry weight 18.32g & 13.70g, stem diameter 17.3cm, photosynthetic rate 14.62µmolm-2 s -1 , stomatal conductance 0.10molm-2 s -1 and chlorophyll content 397.6mgl-1 in control conditions) followed by S. tetrasperma, P. deltoides, S. cumini and D. sissoo for different waterlogging durations. It was concluded from the experiment that E. camaldulensis is the most tolerant and D. sisso is the most sensitive farm forestry tree species.

Hafiz Muhammad Furqan Shaheen, Irfan Ahmad, Shahid Hafeez Khan, Hassan Munir. (2021) SCREENING OF FIVE MULTIPURPOSE TREE SPECIES FOR WATERLOGGING TOLERANCE USING MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE AS EFFECTIVE INDICATORS, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 58, Issue 2.
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