AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 18 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW210012
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of Urban Pollutants on Physiological and  Biochemical Parameters of Leaves of Hardwood Trees and Shrubs in Urban Green Spaces

Sara Ghafari1 Behzad Kaviani1* Shahram Sedaghathoor1 Mohammad Sadegh Allahyari1
Show Less
1 Faculty of Agricultural Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
AJWEP 2021, 18(1), 91–98; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW210012
Submitted: 10 February 2020 | Revised: 27 July 2020 | Accepted: 27 July 2020 | Published: 25 January 2021
© 2021 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

Trees and shrubs of green spaces can tolerate some physiological parameters. They can adapt to  climatic conditions, hence, reduce air pollution and can be used as biological indicators in various researches.  The present study aimed to explore the impact of urban air pollution on some parameters such as fresh, dry and  turgor weight, amounts of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments, and electrolyte leakage of 18 ornamental tree  and shrub species in marginal and downtown parks of Rasht, Iran. The results revealed significant differences  in turgor weight, photosynthetic pigments, and chlorophyll a/b ratio, but insignificant differences in electrolyte  leakage between the marginal and downtown sites. The results indicated that all quantitative variables of the  leaves differed significantly (p ≤ 0.01) among the species, except for fresh weight.

Keywords
Landscape
air pollution
carotenoid
ornamental trees.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
References

Ali, A.A. and M.N. El-Yemeni (2010). Atmospheric air  pollution effects on some exhibited plants at Aljubail  industrial city, Ksa. I – Physiological characteristics and  antioxidant enzymes. Australian Journal of Basic and  Applied Sciences, 4: 1251-1263.

Amini, F., Fattah, N. and M. Askari (2016). Effects of air  pollutants on the physiology and anatomy of Fraxinus  excelsior leaves within Iran’s Aluminum plant in Arak  city. Journal of Plant Process and Function, 5(17): 83-94

Anonymous (2019). Archive of air quality index of provinces,  Guilan, Rasht Region. Retrieved from Air Pollution  Monitoring System.

Areington, C.A., Varghese, B. and S. Ramdhani (2015).  An Assessment of morphological, physiological and  biochemical biomarkers of industrial air pollution in  the leaves of Brachylaena discolor. Water, Air, and Soil  Pollution, 226(9): 1-14

Bai, L.P., Sui, F.G., Ge, T.D., Sun, Z.H., Lu, Y.Y. and G.S.  Zhou (2006). Effect of soil drought stress on leaf water  status, membrane permeability and enzymatic antioxidant  system of Maize. Pedosphere, 16(3): 326-332.Bamniya, B.R., Kapoor, C.S., Kapoor, K. and V. Kapasya  (2012). Harmful effects of air pollution on physiological  activities of Pongamiapinnata L. Pierre. Clean Technologies  and Environmental Policy, 14: 115-124.

Beckett, P.K., Freer-Smith, P. and G. Taylor (1998). Urban  woodlands: Their role in reducing the effects of particulate  pollution. Environmental Pollution, 99: 347-365.

Candan, N. and L. Tarhan (2003). The correlation between  antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation levels  in Mentha pulegium organs grown in Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+,  Zn2+ and Mn2+ stress conditions. Plant Science, 165: 769-779.

Ghorbanli, M., Bakhshi Khaniki, G. and Z. Bakand (2008).  Air pollution effects on fresh and dry weight, amount of  proline, number of stomata, trichome and epidermal cells  in Nerium oleander and Robinia pseudoacacia in Tehran  City. Pajouhesh and Sazandegi, 20(4): 28-34.

Ghorbanli, M., Monfared, A., Bakhshi Khaniki, G. and K.  Yazdani (2009). The effects of air pollution on the cell  membrane peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes (catalase,  peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase) of Lavandula  officinalis and Ligustrum vulgare in Tehran. Plant and  Ecosystem, 5(19): 59-70. 

Joshi, P.C. and A. Swami (2007). Physiological responses  of some tree species under roadside automobile pollution  stress around city of Haridwar, India. Journal of  Environmental Biology, 27: 365-374. doi: 10.1007/s10669- 007-9049-0.

Joshi, P.C. and A. Swami (2009). Air pollution induced  changes in the photosynthetic pigments of selected plant  species. Journal of Environmental Biology, 30(2): 295- 298. 

Kumar, S.P. and P. Dey (2011). Effect of different mulches  and irrigation method on root growth nutrient uptake,  water-use efficiency and yield of strawberry. Scientia  Horticulturae, 127: 318-324. 

Lichtenthaler, H.K. (1987). Chlorophylls and carotenoids:  Pigments of photosynthetic biomembranes. Methods in  Enzymology, 148: 350-382.

Lordifard, P., Seyyednejhad, S. and H. Motamedi (2012). The  effect of air pollution on some physiological parameters  in conocarpus grown in Bidboland Gas Refinery area.  Proceeding of First Conference on Plant (Abiotic) Stresses.  Isfahan: Isfahan University.

Loreto, F. and V. Velikova (2001) Isoprene produced by  leaves protects the photosynthetic apparatus against ozone  damage, quenches ozone products, and reduces lipid  peroxidation of cellular membranes. Plant Physiology,  127: 1781-1787.

Nezami, A., Khazaei, H.R., Boroumand Rezazadeh, Z. and A.  Hosseini (2008). Effects of drought stress and defoliation  on sunflower (Helianthus annulus) in controlled conditions.  Desert, 12: 99-104.

Olumi, H., Rezanejad, F. and B. Keramat (2016). Comparative  study of biochemical parameters of Pinusnigra and P.  elderica cultivated in the area around Sarcheshmeh Copper  Complex and Kantuyeh. Environmental Plant Physiology  Journal, 10(40): 1-12.

Ritchie, S.W.T., Nguyen, H.T. and A.S. Holaday (1990). Leaf  water content and gas-exchange parameters of two wheat  genotypes differing in drought resistance. Crop Science,  30: 105-111.

Vallero, D. (2014). Fundamentals of air pollution. 5th edition,  Elsevier, USA.

Share
Back to top
Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing