Salt tolerance of 12 plant species growing in three saline
habitats (coastal sand dunes, coastal cliffs and salt marshes)
were examined by sand culture experiments in a growth chamber
. Inter-habitat differences in salt tolerance of the 12 plant
species agreed with the order of soil-water salinity among the
three habitats. Plant species in salt marshes, where the soil-water
salinity is the highest among the three habitats, showed the highest
salt tolerance. Interspecific differences in the salt tolerance
were investigated using the growth analysis tequnique. We found
that, as a whole, the reductions of relative growth rates in
salt treatments were mainly due to reductions of net assimilation
rates, with a few exceptions. On the other hand, interspecific
differences in relative growth rates in salty conditions were
explained mainly by differences of leaf area ratio.