Question

Why does the presence of high concentrations of salts in soil pose a problem for plants? Select all that apply. If taken up by the shoot, salts make the plant more palatable to large herbivores. If the salts are not filtered from the transpiration stream, they can damage the plant. If excluded by the root, the salts can make it harder for the root to extract water from the soil. Salts can form insoluble compounds with organic forms of nitrogen that are then unavailable to the plant.

Answer 1

If the salts are not filtered from the transpiration stream, they can damage the plant.

If excluded by the root, the salts can make it harder for the root to extract water from the soil.

Step-by-step explanation:

When soil has high salt concentration, it becomes very difficult for the plant to take in water. Sometimes the problem becomes so peculiar that plant becomes completely unable to take in the water and hence they wilt and die. This happens even when the surrounding soil has sufficient water but remains un-drawn by the plants due to its high osmotic potential resulting due to highly concentrated salt solution. Therefore, more energy and effort is required by roots to extract water from salty sand.

Also if the salt concentration with in the plant increases, it remains there and causes damage

Hence, correct options are

If the salts are not filtered from the transpiration stream, they can damage the plant.

If excluded by the root, the salts can make it harder for the root to extract water from the soil.