Responses of plants to simulated saline drift as affected by species and conditions of exposure

In exposures to simulated saline drift generated from a 0.6% (w/w) chloride (Cl)-solution, under controlled environmental conditions, the median effective doses for the occurrence of any salt-induced foliar injury (expressed as microgCl cm(-2) deposited in six hours) were: 2.9 for Canada hemlock (Tsuga canadensis L.] Carr.); 10.3 for white flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.); 43.5 for potato (Solanum tubersum L. cv Superior); 44.2 for northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.); 65.1 for sweet corn (Zea mays L. cv Golden Cross Bantam); and, 123 for bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv Pinto). Response of bean was a function of total deposition and independent of its rate with multiple (one per day) 6-h exposures but not with exposures less than 6 h where toxicity (per mass of Cl) increased with an increase in the rate of deposition. Toxicity of particles increased with an increase in the concentration of Cl in the solution (1.6 or 5.0% w/w) from which they were generated with bush bean but not with hemlock. Post-exposure periods that cycled between 50 and 855% relative humidity (RH) produced a greater incidence of salt-induced foliar injury than did a regime of constant 85% RH.