Seasonal variation in air pollution tolerance of selective trees grown in the industrial and traffic zone of Bhubaneswar
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Date
2020
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Department of Natural Resources Management, OUAT, Bhubaneswar
Abstract
The present investigation entitled “Seasonal variation in air pollution tolerance of
selective trees grown in the industrial and traffic zone of Bhubaneswar” was conducted during
2019-20 in the laboratory of Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Forestry,
Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar. The objective of this study was
to understand the impact of air pollution on biochemical parameters and to determine APTI, API,
dust accumulation on leaf surface and CO2 sequestration potential of selected tree species grown in
different areas of Bhubaneswar. Two polluted zones of the city, industrial (Mancheswar industrial
area), traffic (Patrapada to Khandagiri NH-16) was selected for the purpose and compared with
forest area (Chandaka Forest). The four commonly observed tree species namely Ficus religiosa
L., Polyalthia longifolia (Sonn.) Thwaites, Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels and Lagerstroemia
speciosa (L.) Pers of uniform size, age, spread were selected for the study. The variations in
biochemical parameters (leaf extract pH, relative water content, ascorbic acid and total
chlorophyll) and dust accumulation of leaf surface were evaluated for three seasons of the year
(rainy, winter and summer). The APTI score was derived by using these four parameters to
examine the potential of these tree species to withstand the air pollution stress. Assessment for API
was done using APTI value, biological and socioeconomic parameters to grade these plants for
their suitability for plantation purpose. The carbon stock and CO2 sequestration potential was
determined through non-destructive method.
The APTI of selected plant species was in the order of P. longifolia (28.50) > F. religiosa
(22.44) > S. cumini (14.85) > L. speciosa (10.73). The highest APTI was noticed in rainy, followed
by winter and minimum in summer season. The relatively higher APTI value of P. longiflia as
compared to other species indicated its tolerance to air pollution. The order of plant species
according to the dust accumulation was L. speciosa (0.80 mg cm-2
) > F. religiosa (0.66 mg cm-2
) >
S. cumini (0.62 mg cm-2
) > P. longifolia (0.58 mg cm-2
). The API of these four tree species ranged
from Very poor to Good. F. religiosa and S. cumini were rated in good category with API score
68.75%, found suitable for plantation in traffic and industrial areas. Based on the API score L.
speciosa (31.25%) was graded as very poor and found unsuitable for plantation purpose. The
highest carbon was found in F. religiosa (0.236 tC/sp.) at industrial area. In both traffic and
industrial area highest CO2 was sequestered by F. religiosa (4.007 and 2.595 tonnes respectively).
In forest area the maximum CO2 was sequestered by S. cumini. The study will be helpful in
selecting tree species for plantation work in urban green spaces and industrial green belts.
Description
Th-6344