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→Salt tolerance
===Salt tolerance===
===Salt tolerance===
The low, medium and high categories indicate the tolerance of plant species to [[salt]] exposure and/or uptake. Plant species with low salt tolerance should not be used in any LID practice receiving runoff from salted roads and parking lots. Species with medium salt tolerance can be utilized in LID practices that will be receiving road runoff but should not be in the line of salt spray or be receiving the bulk of the runoff. Species with high salt tolerance should be planted in LID practices that receive road or parking lot runoff that routinely contains road salt. Few plants are truly halophytic or “salt-loving”. In most cases, elevated salt levels are temporary and precipitation quickly dilutes and removes salt from the soil profile. The plant lists above under the [[plant lists#Plant Selection|Plant Selection]] section includes recommended species for LID practices likely to receive road or parking lot runoff.
The low, medium and high categories indicate the tolerance of plant species to [[salt]] exposure and/or uptake. Plant species with low salt tolerance should not be used in any LID practice receiving runoff from salted roads and parking lots. Species with medium salt tolerance can be utilized in LID practices that will be receiving road runoff but should not be in the line of salt spray or be receiving the bulk of the runoff. Species with high salt tolerance should be planted in LID practices that receive road or parking lot runoff that routinely contains road salt. Few plants are truly halophytic or “salt-loving”. In most cases, elevated salt levels are temporary and precipitation quickly dilutes and removes salt from the soil profile. The plant lists above under the [[plant lists#Plant Selection|Plant Selection]] section includes recommended species for LID practices likely to receive road or parking lot runoff.
The are at least four halophytic grass species native to Ontario. These plants are adapted to growing in saline conditions. Prairie cord grass (''Sporobolus michauxianus'') and side-oats grama (''Bouteloua curtipendula'') are excretor halophytes meaning that they take up salt from the soil then disperse it via wind to the environment. Switch grass (''Panicum virgatum'') and sand dropseed (''Sporobolus cryptandrus'') are accumulator halophytes meaning that they take up salt from the soil then store it in their aboveground tissues. For more information on these halophyte species, please see the [[plant selection]] section under select tall grasses.
===Compaction and pollution tolerance ===
===Compaction and pollution tolerance ===