A STUDY ON AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX (APTI) AND ANTICIPATED PERFORMANCE INDEX (API) OF SOME PLANTS

Due to industrialization, urbanization and increasing number of vehicles air pollution has turn out to be serious problem today. Now a days particulate matter shows the undesirable effects on plants, animals and human beings also. Tree plantation programme is the best ways to control the air pollution. Most of the plants filter the air by their aerial elements. Vegetation naturally cleanses the atmosphere by absorbing gases and some particulate matters through leaves so they work as sink for air pollution and reduce pollution level in atmosphere. Leaves function as an efficient pollutant trapping device. Air pollution can directly affects plants via leaves or indirectly via soil acidification. Air pollution tolerance index (APTI) is an intrinsic quality of trees to control air pollution problems. The trees higher tolerance index are tolerance towards air pollution and can be used a source to control air pollution. Air pollution tolerance index can be used as an indicator of rate of air pollution. By combining biochemical and aggregate factors the anticipated performance index (API) is prepared which is used as development of green belt. Thus, the assessment of APTI and API potential of different trees are used to control air pollution.

Usefulness of Tree Species as Urban Health Indicators

We used the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI), the amount of PM5 and PM10, and the elemental analysis of leaves to explore the sensitivity of tree species to air pollution. We assessed the tolerance of Robinia pseudoacacia, Acer saccharinum, Tilia × europaea, Acer platanoides, Fraxinus excelsior, Betula pendula, Celtis occidentalis, and Platanus × acerifolia to the amount of dust, APTI, and the elemental concentration of leaves. Leaves were collected in Debrecen (Hungary), which has a high intensity of vehicular traffic. The highest amount of PM (both PM10 and PM5) was found on the leaves of A. saccharinum and B. pendula. Our results demonstrated that A. saccharinum was moderately tolerant, while P. acerifolia was intermediate, based on the APTI value. There was a significant difference in the parameters of APTI and the elemental concentration of leaves among species. We found that tree leaves are reliable bioindicators of air pollution in urban areas. Based on the value of APTI, A. saccharinum and P. acerifolia, and based on PM, A. saccharinum and B. pendula are recommended as pollutant-accumulator species, while other studied species with lower APTI values are useful bioindicators of air pollution. The results support landscape engineers and urban developers in finding the best tree species that are tolerant to pollution and in using those as proxies of urban environmental health.

Air Pollution Tolerence Index, Anticipated Performance Index of plants studied near selected sites at Salem, Dharmapuri District

Air pollution due to huge number of vehicles emitting toxic gas poisons both living environment affecting fauna and flora. Road side plants are affected mostly by pollution as they are primary acceptors and gets reflected in terms of tolerance and sensitivity to pollution. Hence, the present work was designed to study the air pollution tolerance (APTI) using biochemical parameters and anticipated performance index (API) of the plants collected near seven different locations. Among the plants assessed, all plants selected does not show much difference in ascorbic acid, total chlorophyll, pH, relative water content, but that slight difference exhibited variations in air pollution tolerance index. Pongamia pinnata (33.16), Ficus religiosa (34.05) Near Asian rubber Industry, Kandampatty Byepass, Salem was found to be a tolerant species, Polyalthia longifolia (8.21) as very sensitive in plants studied Near KMB Granites Pvt. Ltd. Kottagoundampatty, Salem, and the rest was found to be moderately tolerent. Since, the studied plants show lesser surface area, the amount of dust collected was also less, which might be due to the climatic condition prevailed at that time of sample collection. Likewise, the API was found to be excellent in Yercaud lake view and very good in study area Duroflex company, Karimangalam, Dharmapuri, poor in study area Thanithotty Quarry, Salem as well as in KMB granites Pvt.Ltd. and good for the remaining three locations. So, the sensitive plants has to be protected that are located in these sites to reduce the pollution load.

PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX (APTI) OF SELECTED PLANT SPECIES IN BIKANER CITY

Air Pollution Tolerance Index is used to find out the level of air pollution in any area with the help of plants. Plants are categorized as sensitive, intermediate and tolerant based on their APTI values. The present study examines the Air Pollution Tolerance Index of selected plant species in Bikaner city. The APTI of various plants have been computed with the values obtained by analysis of biochemical parameters such as pH of leaf extract, ascorbic acid content (AAC), total leaf chlorophyll content (TLC) and leaf relative water content (RWC). It was found that plant species Khejri (Prosopis cineraria), Neem (Azadiracta indica), Babul (Acacia nilotica), Ber (Ziziphus nummularia), Aak (Calotropis procera) and Peepal (Ficus religiosa) showed APTI values in the range of 30 to 100 which are tolerant to air pollution. Datura stramonium was the only species which falls under the intermediate category due to its APTI value of 21.5. It is recommended that these plants can be grown on national highways to combat air pollution in arid areas. Such plants can be used in the development of green belt.

Assessment of Air Pollution Tolerance and Particulate Matter Accumulation of 11 Woody Plant Species

High concentration of particulate matter (PM) threatens public health and the environment. Increasing traffic in the city is one of the main factors for increased PM in the air. Urban green spaces play an important role in reducing PM. In this study, the leaf surface and in-wax PM (sPM and wPM) accumulation were compared for 11 plant species widely used for landscaping in South Korea. In addition, biochemical characteristics of leaves (ascorbic acid chlorophyll content, leaf pH, and relative water content) were analyzed to determine air pollution tolerance. Plant species suitable for air quality improvement were selected based on their air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and anticipated performance index (API). Results showed a significant difference according to the accumulation of sPM and wPM and the plant species. PM accumulation and APTI showed a positive correlation. Pinus strobus showed the highest PM accumulation and APTI values, while Cercis chinensis showed the lowest. In 11 plants, API was divided into five groups. Pinus densiflora was classified as the best group, while Cornus officinalis and Ligustrum obtusifolium were classified as not recommended.

Physiochemical Alterations and Air Pollution Tolerance Index in Ficus religiosa L. Planted Along Polluted Roadsides of Lahore City

Air pollution is among the nastiest form of pollutions causing vexation over the globe. The recent situation of eco-toxicity showed that whole planet is facing this misery explicitly or implicitly. The essence of this enigma is rapid urbanization and industrialization. Global developmental activities, deforestation, uncontrolled industrial emission and increase in vehicular load made this environment unfit for healthy life. This research work explored the effect of air pollution on Physiochemical attributes of Ficus religiosa L. planted along the polluted roadsides of Lahore city. Leaf area, ascorbic acid contents (AAC), total chlorophyll content (TCh), pH of leaf extract, relative water contents (RWC), and dust accumulation on leaves surface were measured using standard methods. Air Pollution Tolerance Index was computed, and the results were compared with the control plants from Changa Manga forest, 70 Km away from Lahore city in cleaner locality. Several Physiochemical alterations in F. religiosa growing in polluted arias were observed, including average leaf area (1367�14.25mm2), AAC (0.68� 0.021 mg/g), TCh (8.50� 0.017) pH of leaf extract (7.17�0.018), RWC (92.5�0.076 %), and dust accumulation on leaves surface (0.0716�0.00063 mg/cm2) compare to control. The recorded average APTI value (10.32�0.023) was higher in the plants grown along the polluted roads compared to controls (9.39�0.012). It is concluded from the results that air pollution tolerance level of F. religiosa was higher along the polluted roads of Lahore. It depicts that they are considerably affected the prevailing air pollution.