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Use of airplant Tillandsia recurvata L., Bromeliaceae, as biomonitor of urban air pollution

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Abstract

Biomonitoring by plants allows the correlation of the effects observed to degree of air pollution, and it can be implemented in large cities as a viable alternative of analysis. We assessed Tillandsia recurvata L. species as a biomonitor of air pollution in an urban area, using the passive biomonitoring method. The objectives of this work were to analyze the abundance of T. recurvata, morphophysiological parameters, heavy metals accumulation and its relation as biointegrators, indicating the impact through the change in population density. Five sample points were selected and classified according to vehicle traffic. Points P1 and P2 were classified as high traffic, point P3 was classified as moderate traffic, and points P4 and P5 were classified as low traffic. The abundance analysis and the results obtained for metals analysis (by cluster analysis) were correlated with the intensity of vehicular traffic (P1 > P2 = P3 > P4 = P5). Such result demonstrates that the abundance of T. recurvata is greater in air-pollution-impacted urban areas, thus indicating that T. recurvata absorbs and accumulates metals and can be used in biomonitoring of air pollution in urban areas affected by vehicular traffic. Morphophysiological parameters analyzed showed that the plant’s internal structure is not impacted by urban air pollution due to the plant’s adaptations and her ecological plasticity. Spearman correlation has not shown correlation between the concentrations of the metals studied and morphophysiological parameters analyzed. These results demonstrate the usefulness of the T. recurvata as a passive biomonitor of pollution, with an affordable and immediate application, especially in cities from the Southern Hemisphere, where is abundant.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR) and the Universidade Positivo (UP) for providing the infrastructure and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Environmental and Science Technology, Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná – UTFPR, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Karime Dawidziak Piazzetta & Wanessa Algart Ramsdorf

  2. Graduate Program in Industrial Biotechnology, Universidade Positivo – UP, Prof. Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, 5300, 81280-330, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Leila Teresinha Maranho

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  1. Karime Dawidziak Piazzetta
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  2. Wanessa Algart Ramsdorf
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  3. Leila Teresinha Maranho
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Correspondence to Leila Teresinha Maranho.

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Piazzetta, K.D., Ramsdorf, W.A. & Maranho, L.T. Use of airplant Tillandsia recurvata L., Bromeliaceae, as biomonitor of urban air pollution. Aerobiologia 35, 125–137 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-018-9545-3

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