A long term study was conducted along National Highway - 2 between Varanasi and Naubatpur sections to monitor the air pollutant concentration and evaluate the response of plants with respect to selected physiological and growth characteristics. Monitoring of air pollutants such as NO2, SO2, O3 SPM and Pb was done at five locations on the basis of traffic density, land use, plantation density and distance from the road. Plant performance was studied in relation to changes in chlorophyll and ascorbis acid contents, biomass accumulation per unit leaf area, photosynthetic rate and lead and sulphate accumulation. Higher concentrations of pollutants have been found directly correlated with obstruction in free flow of traffic. Rural areas with agricultural plants showed lower pollutant concentrations compared to urban areas. Plants growing at high pollution zone showed lower concentrations of the ascorbic acid in leaves and lower photosynthetic rate, the specific leaf area and Pb and SO4 contents increased. SO2 concentration was found to be directly correlated with SO4 - S content in leaves. The study concludes that air quality along the highway has potential negative impact on plant performance in the area. (A)
Samenvatting