Assessing the effects of limestone dust and lead pollution on the ecophysiology of some selected urban tree species

Frontiers in Plant Science

Plant Science

Sadaf Gul¹  Ghulam Yasin²  Muhammad Talha Bin Yousaf³  Wei Guo⁴  Muhammad Farrakh Nawaz⁵  Muhammad Azeem Sabir⁶  Tanveer Hussain⁶  Shafeeq Ur Rahman⁷ 

[1] Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan;Department of Forestry and Range Management, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan;Department of Forestry, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan;Farmland Irrigation Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang, Henan, China;Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan;Institute of Forest Sciences, The Islamia University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan;Water Science and Environmental Engineering Research Center, College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China;

关键词: phytoremediation;    bioindicator;    air pollution;    soil pollution;    antioxidant enzyme;    reactive oxygen species;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpls.2023.1144145

 received in 2023-01-13, accepted in 2023-04-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Soil and air pollution caused by heavy metals and limestone dust are prevalent in urban environments and they are an alarming threat to the environment and humans. This study was designed to investigate the changes in morphological and physiological traits of three urban tree species seedlings (Bombax ceiba, Conocarpus lancifolius, and Eucalyptus camaldulensis) under the individual as well as synergetic effects of heavy metal lead (Pb) and limestone dust toxicities. The tree species were grown under controlled environmental conditions with nine treatments consisting of three levels of dust (0, 10, and 20 g) and three levels of Pb contaminated water irrigation (0, 5, and 10 mg L−1). The results depicted that the growth was maximum in T1 and minimum in T9 for all selected tree species. B. ceiba performed better under the same levels of Pb and limestone dust pollution as compared with the other two tree species. The B. ceiba tree species proved to be the most tolerant to Pb and limestone pollution by efficiently demolishing oxidative bursts by triggering SOD, POD, CAT, and proline contents under different levels of lead and dust pollution. The photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, evapotranspiration rate, and transpiration rate were negatively influenced in all three tree species in response to different levels of lead and dust applications. The photosynthetic rate was 1.7%, 3.1%, 7.0%, 11.03%, 16.2%, 23.8%, 24.8%, and 30.7%, and the stomatal conductance was 5%, 10.5%, 23.5%, 40%, 50.01%, 61.5%, 75%, and 90.9%, greater in T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, and T9 plants of B. ceiba, respectively, as compared to T1. Based on the findings, among these three tree species, B. ceiba is strongly recommended for planting in heavy metal and limestone dust-polluted areas followed by E. camaldulensis and C. lancifolius due to their better performance and efficient dust and heavy metal-scavenging capability.

【 授权许可】

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