ABSTRACT
The present study focuses on the determination of air
pollution tolerance indices (APTI) of ten plant species common to both Sapele
and Abraka metropoles of Delta State, Nigeria. The APTI was determined by
analyzing the leaves of the plants to obtain the physiological and biochemical
parameters namely: leaf relative water content (RWC), aqueous ascorbic acid
content, total leaf chlorophyll content and PH of the extract. The plant
species selected for the study were based on the relative abundance and
ethnobotanical uses by the people of both Sapele and Abraka communities and
they are Manihot esculenta, Chromolaena odorata, Musa paradisiaca, Cocos
nucifera, Hevea brasiliensis, Psidium guajava, Sida acuta, Magnifera indica,
Anthocleistia vogelii, and Heteropogon contortus. The meteorological parameters
used for the determination of values at both locations are wind velocity,
temperature and relative humidity. In Sapele metropolis, the values for the
above parameters are (3.42±0.01m/s), (29.97±0.42oc) and (91.90±1.31%) while
values for Abraka metropolis are (2.83±0.25m/s), (28.77±0.41oc) and
(88.63±0.55%) respectively. The parameter used for the determination of air
quality are: NO2, SO2, NH3, O3 H2S and CO. The total chlorophyll content and pH
of all selected plants from both Sapele and Abraka metropolis were lower in
value, whereas APTI, ascorbic acid and RWC recorded higher values in both
locations. On the basis of APTI, Anthocleistia vogelii recorded high value in
both Sapele (9.97) and Abraka (8.55) compared to other plant species studied.
Plant species like Anthocleistia vogelii which showed minimum difference in
APTI values in both locations may be considered as tolerant for both Sapele and
Abraka metropolis.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The quality of air affects the quality of life and
human respiration and the quality of air can change as the weather changes from
day to day and even hour to hour. Our
environment comprises of a very large and intertwining complex of water, air,
soil and biological life which includes nature and all living beings; the
environment is affected by human activities and vice versa (Tabatabae, et al., 2012).
The quality of air has an impact on the quality of
life of humans. Air pollution is a
result of industrialization and urbanization and it is a major problem of
cities (Hamraz et al., 2014).
Natural factors such as windstorms, extreme
temperature and dust, add particles and gases to the air, also human
activities, industrial and agricultural plants and vehicles are factors that
result in the presence of such materials in the air. Across the Middle East, people have always
contended with excessive heat, dust storms, shortage of rainfall and harsh
environment: thus air pollution has more effect on people’s lives in this
region (United Nations Environment Program, 2002).
Among the damages caused by air pollutants, the most
significant ones occur in the leaves of plants. These damages include chlorosis
and necrosis of leaves. Infact, plants
exposed to pollutants show a wide variety of responses (Deepalakshmi, et al., 2013).
Air pollution has become an important factor in
environmental degradation by increasing the concentration of gases and
introducing the suspended particulate matter to the atmosphere. The developing countries have experienced a
progressive degradation in air quality due to rapid development in industrial
and urban sectors in the last three decades (Lindgren and Saravanakumar, 2009).
Air pollution has both direct and indirect impacts
on animal and plant physiology by disturbing normal respiratory mechanisms and
changing the morphological and biochemical characteristics (Govindaraju, et al., 2010).
Plants have a very close interrelationship with the
environment and any altered condition of the atmosphere has a strong impact on
its physiology and biochemistry. The damage to the vegetation as a result of
air pollution is important from the stand point of both agricultural production
and ecological balance (Sharma and Rama, 2008).
Air pollution tolerance index (APTI) is an inherent
quality of plants to encounter air pollution stress which is presently of prime
concern particularly of urban areas of the world. Since plants are stationary and continuously
exposed, chemical pollutants from the surrounding atmosphere cause injury. Air
pollution injury is proportional to the intensity of the pollution (Rao, 2006).
Air pollution tolerance index based on the following
parameters such as ascorbic acid content, chlorophyll content, leaf extract pH
and relative water content had been used for identifying tolerance levels of
plant species (Singh and Rao, 1998).
According to Mashita and Pise (2000), there is a scale
of APTI value which indicates the APTI value between 30-100 – the species is
tolerant; APTI values between 17-29 – the species is intermittently tolerant
and plants registering APTI value in the range of 1-16 are considered as
sensitive; APTI value lower than 1 is branded as highly sensitive.
Air pollution tolerance index is used by landscapers
to select plant species tolerant to air pollution (Yan-ju and Ding, 2008).
Air pollution tolerance index has been used to rank
species in their order of tolerance to air pollution (Raza and Marlhy, 1988).
This study aims to determine the Air pollution
tolerance index values of selected plant species commonly found in the vicinity
of road sides with respect to the above biochemical parameters. Plant response towards the pollutants from
the surrounding atmosphere can be used to assess the quality of air that
provides an easy warning signal for the trend of air pollution in the area.
The objectives of this study are as follows:
(i)
To identify
species of plants with low resistance to air pollution among the ones selected.
(ii)
To identify
species of plants that can be used as bio-monitors.
(iii)
To measure air
pollutants such as NO2, SO2, CO2, CO, H2S
and O3.
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