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The dust retention capacities of urban vegetation—a case study of Guangzhou, South China

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Abstract

Urban vegetation increasingly plays an important role in the improvement of the urban atmospheric environment. This paper deals with the dust retention capacities of four urban tree species (Ficus virens var. sublanceolata, Ficus microcarpa, Bauhinia blakeana, and Mangifera indica Linn) in Guangzhou. The dust-retaining capacities of four tree species are studied under different pollution intensities and for different seasons. Remote sensing imagery was used to estimate the total aboveground urban vegetation biomass in different functional areas of urban Guangzhou, information that was then used to estimate the dust-retaining capacities of the different functional areas and the total removal of airborne particulates in urban Guangzhou by foliage. The results showed that urban vegetation can remove dust from the atmosphere thereby improving air quality. The major findings are that dust retention, or capture, vary between the four species of tree studied; it also varied between season and between types of urban functional area, namely industrial, commercial/road traffic, residential, and clean areas. Dust accumulation over time was also studied and reached a maximum, and saturation, after about 24 days. The overall aboveground biomass of urban vegetation in Guangzhou was estimated to be 52.0 × 105 t, its total leaf area 459.01 km2, and the dust-retaining capacity was calculated at 8012.89 t per year. The present study demonstrated that the foliage of tree species used in urban greening make a substantial contribution to atmospheric dust removal and retention in urban Guangzhou.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no.40971054). The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support and help in collecting samples and finishing experiments from the Guangdong provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Lu Liu, Dongsheng Guan, Gang Wang, Hui Zhang & Zhiwei Li

  2. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Lu Liu, Dongsheng Guan, Gang Wang, Hui Zhang & Zhiwei Li

  3. Guangzhou Sewage Treatment Co. Ltd, Guangzhou, 510655, China

    Lu Liu

  4. Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    M. R. Peart

Authors
  1. Lu Liu
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  2. Dongsheng Guan
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  3. M. R. Peart
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  4. Gang Wang
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  5. Hui Zhang
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  6. Zhiwei Li
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Correspondence to Dongsheng Guan.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Liu, L., Guan, D., Peart, M.R. et al. The dust retention capacities of urban vegetation—a case study of Guangzhou, South China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 6601–6610 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1648-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1648-3

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