Ecological engineering through the biosecure introduction of Kosteletzkya virginica (seashore mallow) to saline lands in China: A review of 20 years of activity

• Kosteletzkya virginica well suited Chinese coastal areas without showing invasive tendency.
• K. virginica was an effective tool for saline land restoration via greatly improving soil quality.
• K. virginica could provide materials for oil, biopesticide, fiber and pharmaceutical industries.
• Ecological engineering through K. virginica is to continuously create comprehensive profits.

Over the past 20 years since its introduction, Kosteletzkya virginica has proved to be one of the optimal halophytes for saline land restoration in China. In six seashore mallow plantations, its well-developed perennial root system promoted the growth of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus in the rhizosphere, where the fungus’s activity produced total glomalin (TG, ranging from 0.85 to 2.43 mg g−1 soil), with a high ratio of TG/SOC (soil organic carbon) up to 53.29% in six-year-old seashore mallow plantation. K. virginica ameliorated the condition of saline soils, promoted native species growth, and increased plant diversity in the plantation sites. Seashore mallow contains many bioactive compounds, e.g., polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, etc. which have high bioactivity, and could be used as a fodder additive or for the development of health foods. The leaf, flower, stem and root of K. virginica, serve as raw materials for hierachical development of useful products according to their different properties. This study reviews and summarizes research on K. virginica in China during the past 20 years since its introduction from the USA. Also, we present guidelines for the planting and use of seashore mallow in China, in terms of an ecological engineering roadmap, which illustrates the process and strategy for the restoration of saline soils and designs for biomass industries based on its production.

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