Abstract
Due to the different responses to air pollutants, plants could be used as the bio-monitors to estimate the air pollution. The air pollution tolerance index, calculated by ascorbic acid content, relative water content, leaf extract pH and total leaf chlorophyll content, is a very important tool to select the sensitive species as bio-indicator of air pollution. In the present study, the air pollution tolerance indexes of four evergreen tree species collected from different polluted areas in Xi'an city were evaluated to determine the sensitivity degrees of trees to air pollutants and their performance in urban areas. Moreover, the anticipated performance index was calculated by combining the air pollution tolerance index values with some relevant socioeconomic and biological characteristics. The results showed that the highest air pollution tolerance indexes were Cedrus deodara and Sabina chinensis, and it was determined that the species with very good performance was Cedrus deodara. On the other hand, the species with the most sensitive and poor performance were Ligustrum lucidum and Euonymus japonicas. All the results exhibited that Ligustrum lucidum and Euonymus japonicas could be effectively used as bio-indicators of air pollution, and Cedrus deodara was the appropriate tree species for green belt development in Xi'an, China.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are very grateful for financial supports from the Soft science project of Xi'an science and technology bureau (No. SF1505(8)), and the anonymous reviewers’ constructive comments and feedback.
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This work was supported by Soft science project of Xi'an science and technology bureau (No. SF1505(8)). The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.
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JZ carried out the conceptualization, design, data acquisition, data analysis and writing. XQ contributed to the study conception and design. RH wrote the first draft of the manuscript. CY and WZ collected important background information and carried out literature search. ZX and XT carried out the investigation and data curation. ZH and ZW performed manuscript review. TL participated in the conceptualization, writing—review & editing, supervision, project administration. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Zheng, J., Qu, X., Hou, R. et al. A comparative study of air pollution tolerance capabilities of four tree species in Xi’an city, China. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 21, 665–674 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-04970-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-04970-1