Seasonal environmental changes affect differently the physiological and biochemical responses of two Limonium species in Sabkha biotope

To cope with abiotic stresses, the halophytes use various tolerance mechanisms that are not all known for some species of halophytes. This work aimed to model the responses of two halophytes, Limonium pruinosum and Limonium tunetanum, to changing environmental conditions over a year in Sabkha biotope, Tunisia. Our findings indicated that the model could describe well the seasonal variations of all studied traits over a year in this region (R2 > 0.80). The pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and mineral composition (i.e., Sodium [Na+ ], potassium [K+ ], calcium [Ca2+ ], and magnesium [Mg2+ ] concentrations] in the soil significantly varied during the year (P