Pollution resistance assessment of existing landscape plants on Beijing streets based on air pollution tolerance index method.
Various plant species of green belt in urban traffic area help to reduce air pollution and beautify the city environment. Those plant species growing healthily under long-term atmospheric pollution environment are considered to be resilient. This study aims to identify plant species that are more tolerant to air pollution from traffic and to give recommendations for future green belt development in urban areas. Leaf samples of 47 plant species were collected from two heavy traffic roadside sites and one suburban site in Beijing during summer 2014. Four parameters in leaves were separately measured including relative water content (RWC), total chlorophyll content (TCH), leaf-extract pH (pH), and ascorbic acid (AA). The air pollution tolerance index (APTI) method was adopted to assess plants' resistance ability based on the above four parameters. The tolerant levels of plant species were classified using two methods, one by comparing the APTI value of individual plant to the average of all species and another by using fixed APTI values as standards. Tolerant species were then selected based on combination results from both methods. The results showed that different tolerance orders of species has been found at the three sampling sites due to varied air pollution and other environmental conditions. In general, plant species Magnolia denudata, Diospyros kaki, Ailanthus altissima, Fraxinus chinensis and Rosa chinensis were identified as tolerant species to air pollution environment and recommend to be planted at various location of the city, especially at heavy traffic roadside.
The Department of Ecology Research, Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Nan Haizi, Daxing district, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhangpengqian2007@126.com.
Peng-Qian
PQ
Zhang
The Department of Ecology Research, Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Nan Haizi, Daxing district, Beijing, China. Electronic address: liuyanju@hotmail.com.
Yan-Ju
YJ
Liu
The Department of Ecology Research, Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Nan Haizi, Daxing district, Beijing, China. Electronic address: amitf2827@sina.com.
Xing
X
Chen
The Department of Ecology Research, Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Nan Haizi, Daxing district, Beijing, China. Electronic address: yangzhengoryanzi@sina.com.
Zheng
Z
Yang
The Department of Ecology Research, Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Nan Haizi, Daxing district, Beijing, China. Electronic address: 1078673342@qq.com.
Ming-Hao
MH
Zhu
The Department of Ecology Research, Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Nan Haizi, Daxing district, Beijing, China. Electronic address: liyiping0716@126.com.
Yi-Ping
YP
Li
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000068476:Beijing; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D014867:Water; D002734:Chlorophyll; D001205:Ascorbic Acid
Air pollution tolerance index (APTI); Ascorbic acid; Leaf relative water content; Leaf-extract pH; Total chlorophyll content