When Nutrients Go Missing: Visual Deficiency Signs in Shorea Seedlings | InformativeBD

Maria Opelia M. Moreno,  Randy A. Villarin, and  Marlito Jose Bande, from the different institute of Philippines. wrote a Research Article about, When Nutrients Go Missing: Visual Deficiency Signs in Shorea Seedlings. Entitled, Visual deficiency symptoms of Shorea Species seedlings as affected by macronutrient omission. This research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBES.  an open access scholarly research journal on Biodiversity. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess and describe the visual nutrient deficiency symptoms exhibited by Shorea almon, Shorea negrosensis, and Shorea palosapis seedlings as affected by macronutrient omission. A complete randomized design was used with seven (7) treatments and four (4) replications. There were 36 seedlings per treatment per replication per species used in the experiment. The occurrences of deficiency symptoms in response to nutrient element omission on the study plants were monitored weekly. Photos on possible nutrient deficiency symptoms were taken typically on unusual colors or patterns in the leaves, burns, distortion of individual plant parts, stunting or abnormal growth. The photos were individually compared to several published literatures for confirmation. Results showed that the common characteristics of macronutrient deficiency symptoms were chlorosis on the leaf blade, interveinal and marginal chlorosis, and scorching in the leaf tip. In the later stages, necrosis starts to develop after chlorosis. Furthermore, it was observed that deficiency symptoms depend on the plant species and the macronutrients content required for optimal growth. The absence of an essential macronutrient affects plant growth and performance. When the nutrient supply was suboptimal, the morphological growth performance of the seedlings grown under no fertilizer application and -N treatments were stunted. Therefore, nutrient element omission considerably influenced the growth performance of Shorea seedlings which showed nutrient deficiency symptoms specific to the omitted nutrient element.

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Introduction

The Dipterocarpaceae species are the most important source of timber in Southeast Asia (ESSC, 1999). Hence, they are the ones used by the government’s biggest environmental project, the National Greening Program (NGP). Dipterocarps play a dominant role in the ecology and economics in the forests of Asia (Poore, 1989) in a way that no comparable family plays in other rainforest regions.

This present study is focused on Shorea, a genus of the Dipterocarpaceae. Shorea is a good source of timber, food for wild animals, and probably other uses like medicine as in other plants unknown to many (Bhalero et al., 2012; Sonowal et al., 2012). Shorea is a vulnerable genus because of deforestation and cutting for its valuable timber as in many other species and genera (Mishara, 2013). As Shorea species have been used in forest restoration, it is just necessary to distinguish the symptoms if planted in a macronutrient-deficient site. Hence, we conducted this study.

Plants need the right combination of nutrients to live, grow and reproduce. When plants suffer from malnutrition, they show symptoms of being unhealthy. Too little or too much of any one nutrient can cause problems (Hosier, 1999). To determine elemental plant deficiencies, most agriculturists rely primarily on visual symptoms, soil analysis, and plant tissue analysis (Wong, 2005). Visual nutrient deficiency symptoms have been described for a number of ornamentals (Joiner et al., 1983) but limited study was conducted on trees particularly Dipterocarpacea.

Visual mineral deficiency symptoms vary and are often unique for different species (Harbaugh, 1986; Hershey and Merritt, 1987). Characterization of leaf development and nutrient deficiency symptoms could aid in diagnosing nutrient disorders and distinguishing nutrient imbalances from other disorders caused by pathogens, chemical damage, or other stresses. The objective of the study was to assess and describe the visual deficiency symptoms of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) in the seedlings of Shorea species as influenced by nutrient omission treatments under screen house condition.

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Article source : Visual deficiency symptoms of Shorea Species seedlings as affected by macronutrient omission