EVALUATION OF AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE AND CARBON STORAGE POTENTIAL OF PLANTS GROWING ALONGSIDE THENATIONAL HIGHWAY 21
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Date
2016
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ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “Evaluation of air pollution tolerance and carbon storage potential of plants growing alongside the National Highway 21” was conducted during the years 2014 and 2015 in the Department of Environmental Science, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The study aimed at determining the air pollution tolerance index, along with dust accumulation capacity of selected plants and the estimation of heavy metal load of dust. The morphological and anatomical characters of leaves viz. leaf area, orientation, stomatal density and index were also recorded. The APTI was calculated on the basis of biochemical parameters like total chlorophyll, leaf extract pH , ascorbic acid and relative water content. The anticipated performance index as well as carbon storage potential of the selected plants was also determined. The study was conducted on a uniform stretch on National Highway 21 from Bilaspur to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. To study the impact of vehicular pollution six plant species namely Adhatoda vasica, Ficus carica, Melia azederach, Morus alba, Murraya koenigii and Toona ciliata were selected at three horizontal distances i.e.0-15, 15-30 and 30-45m from roadside. The tolerance of plants to vehicular pollution was studied during pre monsoon and post monsoon seasons. In total there were 36 treatment combinations which were replicated four times under Randomized Block Design (factorial). The total chlorophyll content, leaf extract pH, leaf relative water content, ascorbic acid, total sugar and phenols ranged from 0.84 to 5.26mg g-1, 4.85 to 7.01, 70.03 to 88.61 per cent, 1.23 to 4.81mg g1 , 5.33 to 41.56 mg g-1 and 0.86 to 4.10mg g-1 respectively. The air pollution tolerance of the selected plants was in the range of 8.37 to 12.85 and was in order of Toona ciliata > Melia azederach > Adhatoda vasica > Ficus carica > Morus alba > Murraya koenigii. The leaf dust load accumulation ranged from 0.01 to 1.48mg m-2. The concentration of heavy metals viz. zinc , nickel, lead, chromium, copper and iron in the leaf dust was in the range of 13.10 to 45.83, 2.22 to 9.11, 26.55 to 92.04, 1.32 to 6.37, 12.29 to 62.86 and 28.25 to 62.13 mg g-1, respectively. The stomatal index and density reduced due to dust accumulation on the leaves.The evaluation of API categorized the plants in the range of poor to excellent. The carbon storage potential of the selected plants ranged from 0.18 to 169.22 Mg per tree and followed the order of Toona ciliate > Melia azederach > Morus alba > Ficus carica > Murraya koenigii > Adhatoda vasica with respective values of 169.22, 110.90, 84.82, 55.28, 0.19 and 0.18Mg per tree. Toona ciliata with higher air pollution tolerance , anticipated performance index has been identified as suitable plant for plantation along the National Highway. Its higher carbon sequestration potential may be helpful in mitigating the projected climate change in the region
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planting, seasons, selection, wood, ficus carica, murraya koenigii, carbon, tolerance, diseases, melia azedarach, Air pollution tolerance, carbon storage,alongside the National Highway 21