Globally, salt stress is one of the most significant abiotic stresses limiting crop production in dry-land regions. Nowadays, growing crops in dry-land regions under saline irrigation is the main focus. Soil amendment with organic materials has shown the potential to mitigate the adverse effects of salinity on plants. This study aimed to examine the ameliorative impact of soil amendment (manure + sandy, compost + sandy, clay + sandy and sandy soil) on the growth, yield, physiological, and biochemical attributes of Hedysarum scoparium Fisch. et Mey (HS) and Avena sativa L. (OT) under fresh and saline water irrigation in dry-land regions. The results showed that salt stress negatively affected both plant species' growth, physiological traits, yield, and chloride ions. In response to saline irrigation, plants of both species increased catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities as part of a self-defense mechanism to minimize damage. Salt stress also significantly raised levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA), and chloride ions (Cl). However, soil amendment treatments like manure + sandy and compost + sandy soil countered the negative effects of saline irrigation, significantly improving plant growth and yield compared with sandy soil. Thus, organic soil amendment is a promising strategy for sustainable crop production under saline irrigation in dry-land regions. This study provides valuable insights into enhancing agricultural production by fostering resilient halophytes and salt-tolerant plant species in challenging environments.

With continued sea level rise and over-exploitation, saline water extends farther inland, causing changes in soil salinity and water quality and leading to permanent land salinization and ecosystem damage. Saltwater intrusion (SWI), causing numerous ecosystem problems and disasters, brings risk to urban ecosystems in coastal cities. Ecological risk, in the Greater Bay Area in China, should be assessed based on the effect of SWI status on ecosystem health. In this study, we built a new ecological risk-assessment model based on the geographic information system (GIS) technique and spatial data. At the conceptual level, four main stressors were identified based on literature reading and fieldwork. Four stress factors (SFs) were thoroughly investigated, namely, SF1: the intensity gradient immersed in saltwater; SF2: the mountain phreatic water supply; SF3: the salinity tolerance of urban greenbelt vegetation; and SF4: the supply capacity of irrigation water to suppress saline water. After a comprehensive evaluation using GIS and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we mapped and assessed the ecological risk level of the urban greenbelt for the SWI. Our results showed that the area of urban green space affected by the SWI was approximately 49.31 km2, almost 12.05%. Ecological risk was sorted into five ranks: (1) very low risk 47.53%, (2) low risk 26.29%, (3) medium risk 22.92%, (4) high risk 2.45%, and (5) very high risk (0.8%). The ecological infrastructure of sponges should include freshwater conservation in coastal cities, and more attention should be paid to fresh groundwater discharge from coastal ecosystems in Shenzhen.