title: Herbaceous plants as filters: immobilization of particulates along urban street corridors.
abstract: Among air pollutants, particulate matter (PM) is considered to be the most serious threat to human health. Plants provide ecosystem services in urban areas, including reducing levels of PM by providing a surface for deposition and immobilization. While previous studies have mostly addressed woody species, we focus on herbaceous roadside vegetation and assess the role of species traits such as leaf surface roughness or hairiness for the immobilization of PM. We found that PM deposition patterns on plant surfaces reflect site-specific traffic densities and that strong differences in particulate deposition are present among species. The amount of immobilized PM differed according to particle type and size and was related to specific plant species traits. Our study suggests that herbaceous vegetation immobilizes a significant amount of the air pollutants relevant to human health and that increasing biodiversity of roadside vegetation supports air filtration and thus healthier conditions along street corridors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Chair of Ecosystem Science/Plant Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, D-12165 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: fraukeweber@web.de.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Chair of Ecosystem Science/Plant Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, D-12165 Berlin, Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kowarik
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Chair of Ecosystem Science/Plant Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, D-12165 Berlin, Germany; Department of Ecology, Chair of Ecological Impact Research and Ecotoxicology, Technische Universität Berlin, Ernst Reuter Platz 1, D-10587 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Säumel
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D008956:Models, Chemical; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*; D014186:Transportation; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Ecosystem services; Filter; Particulate matter; Urban roadside vegetation