Performance of bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, seashore paspalum, and zoysiagrass lines under salinity stress in greenhouse and field trials

Abstract

Limited availability of water resources, especially in the Southwest of the United States, has affected the turfgrass industry in recent years. Irrigating turfgrasses with marginal‐quality water conserves potable water supplies. This study evaluated lines of bermudagrass ( Cynodon Rich. spp.), St. Augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walter) Kuntze], seashore paspalum ( Paspalum vaginatum Sw.), and zoysiagrass ( Zoysia Wild. spp.) under saline water irrigation. Experiments were conducted in a greenhouse (30 dS m ^{− 1} ) and in the field (4.4 dS m ^{− 1} ) from 2021 to 2023. Variation in response to salinity stress expressed as changes in turfgrass quality and leaf firing was observed within all four species in the greenhouse study and within bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, and zoysiagrass in the field. Genotypic means for bermudagrass turfgrass quality (scale 1–9, 9 = highest) ranged from 4.5 to 9.0 in the greenhouse and from 2.67 to 6.33 in the field. Means for zoysiagrass ranged from 1.4 to 7.9 in the greenhouse and from 2.67 to 7.0 in the field. Means for St. Augustinegrass ranged from 1.0 to 7.0 in the greenhouse and from 1.0 to 6.67 in the field. Moderately strong rank correlations in turfgrass quality under stress and during recovery in the field and greenhouse were observed only for zoysiagrass (0.38–0.54). This was caused by differences in performance of individual lines in other species. Wide range of salt tolerance in bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, and St. Augustinegrass indicates that further improvement of these species is possible, providing turfgrass managers and homeowners with better‐adapted to marginal quality water cultivars.