Advances in the Study of Stress Resistance of Casuarina equisetifolia

Casuarina equisetifolia is a useful evergreen and fast-growing tree growing in loose sandy soil in tropical and subtropical zones. The adverse circumstances and harsh ocean climate make it even more salt-resisting, wind-breaking, poor soil-tolerating and waterlog-enduring. But the plant can only tolerate short-term drought because of its warm and moist habitat. It has been planted in coastal areas and offshore islands in southeast China as a windbreaker and sandfixator, to improve soil in saline-alkali areas, and for reforestation in arid areas, for example; thus, it plays an important role in protecting other plants from natural disaster damage and improving the habitat along the seacoast. The plant’s resistance to cold contributes to hybridization and nursery stock cultivated in saline-alkali soil. Summarized in this paper are recent studies of the abiotic stress resistance of C. equisetifolia to exploit it rationally.