Evaluating the impact of individual leaf traits on atmospheric particulate matter accumulation using natural and synthetic leaves |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Molise (UniMol), Department of Biosciences and Territory, Contrada Fonte Lappone Pesche (IS), Italy;2. Institute of Agro Environmental and Forest Biology, National Research Council (IBAF–CNR), Via Marconi, 2 Porano (TR) & Via Castellino 111, Napoli, Italy;3. Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK;4. Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v. v. i., Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic;1. State Key Laboratory Incubation Base of Urban Environmental Processes and Digital Simulation, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China;3. Public Meteorological Service Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China |
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| Abstract: | The ability of vegetation to capture and retain atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) is directly dependent on the interactions between PM and plant surfaces. However, the impact of individual leaf traits in this respect is still under debate due to variations in published findings. This study employed standardised experimental designs with natural and synthetic leaves in three experiments to explore the impact of individual leaf traits on traffic-generated PM accumulation whilst other influential variables were controlled. The impact of leaf size on PM deposition was explored using synthetic leaves of different sizes (small, medium and large) but with the same shape and surface characteristics (n = 20 for each category). The impact of leaf shape was examined using another set of synthetic leaves of different shape (elliptical, palmately-lobed and linear) but with the same surface area and the same surface characteristics (n = 20 for each category). PM accumulation (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) on these leaves was quantified using an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) and ImageJ software. Any differences in PM capture levels due to leaf size and leaf shape were identified using one-way Anova and Tukey’s pairwise comparison. In a subsequent experiment, equal-sized, square-shaped leaf sections obtained from four plant species (n = 20 for each species) with different micromorphology were exposed to traffic-generated pollution and any PM capture differences due to leaf micromorphology identified employing the same SEM/ImageJ and statistical approach. The results of all three experiments showed significant differences in PM accumulation between different leaf sizes (p < 0.001), between different leaf shapes (p < 0.001) and between different leaf micromorphology (p < 0.001) suggesting that all these characters are influential in the capture and retention of PM on leaves. Smaller leaves and complex leaf shapes (lobed leaves) showed a greater potential to capture and retain PM. Leaf surfaces with hair/trichomes, epicuticular wax, and surface-ridges accumulated more PM compared to smooth surfaces; of these characters, leaf hairiness/presence of trichomes was found to be the most important. Species sharing most of these important leaf traits are recommended as effective PM filters. |
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| Keywords: | Traffic-generated pollution Living walls Green walls Green infrastructure Leaf shape Leaf size Micromorphology |
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