Plants show signs of exhaust-ion

AHMEDABAD: While the impact of vehicular pollution is well-documented in humans — hampered lung functions and increase in morbidity — a recent city-based study highlighted that the toxic fumes do the same to the plants.

Of the four species taken into consideration for analysis, those planted in areas with heavy traffic saw marked difference from those in non-traffic zones.

The study, ‘Physiological responses of some tree species under roadside pollution in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’ by Dharti Nagar, Sandhya Verma and Hitesh Solanki from the department of botany, bioinformatics, and climate change impacts management at Gujarat University, was published recently in the journal, International Association of Biologicals and Computational Digest.

Leaves collected from Kalupur and another area, located17 km away, were studied. The species chosen included peepal (sacred fig), saptaparni (blackboard tree), neem, and Asopalav (Indian mast tree) due to its high prevalence in the city.

A few earlier studies have also chosen some of these trees, providing a ready comparison.

Solanki, a faculty at the department, said that the results indicated that the leaves collected from more polluted areas had fewer open pores, and were not so healthy in terms of water, pH and chlorophyll levels.

The chlorophyll content was 19% to 47% less in the same species that were 17km apart from each other.

“Two of the species that showed relatively higher resilience were peepal and asopalav.,” said Solanki, adding: “The findings match with the outcome of the studies of similar nature conducted in 2012-13. The study not only shows how plants survive in polluted areas — their presence is a necessity for a better environment — but also identifies species which might be more suitable for a city like Ahmedabad.”