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| Titel |
Traffic pollution affects P. pinea growth according to tree ring width and C and N isotopic composition |
| VerfasserIn |
Giovanna Battipaglia, Fabio Marzaioli, Carmine Lubritto, Simona Altieri, Sandro Strumia, Paolo Cherubini, M. Francesca Cotrufo |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250045287
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Urbanization and industrialization are rapidly growing, as a consequence roads and
their associated vehicular traffic exerts major and increasing impacts on adjacent
ecosystems.
Various studies have shown the impact of vehicle exhausts on road side vegetation through
their visible and non-visible effects (Farmer and Lyon 1977, Sarkar et al., 1986, Angold 1997,
Nuhoglu 2005) but, presently there is little known about the long term effect of air pollution
on vegetation and on trees, in particular.
Developing proxies for atmospheric pollution that would be used to identify the physiological
responses of trees under roadside car exhaust pollution stress is needed.
In this context we propose a novel method to determine the effect of car exhaust pollution on
tree growth, coupling classical dendrochronological analyses and analyses of 15N and 13C in
tree rings, soils and leaves with tree ring radiocarbon (14C) data.
Pinus pinea individuals, adjacent to main roads in the urban area of Caserta (South Italy) and
exposed to large amounts of traffic exhausts since 1980, were sampled and the time-related
trend in the growth residuals was estimated. We found a consistent decrease in the ring width
starting from 1980, with a slight increase in δ13C value, which was considered to be a
consequence of environmental stress. No clear pattern was identified in δ15N, while an
increasing effect of the fossil fuel dilution on the atmospheric bomb-enriched 14C
background was detected in tree rings, as a consequence of the increase in traffic exhausts.
Our findings suggest that radiocarbon is a very sensitive tool to investigate small-scale
(i.e. traffic exhaust at the level crossing) and large-scale (urban area pollution) induced
disturbances.
References
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Farmer JC, Lyon TDB. Lead in Glasgow street dirt and soil. Sci Tot Environ 1977; 8:
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Nuhoglu Y. The harmful effects of air pollution on the photosynthetic pigments of Ipomea
fistulosa and Phoenix sylvestris. All India seminar on air pollution Control, Indore, Abs.
2005, 19-21 pp.
Sarkar PK, Baherjee A, Mukherji S. Acceleration of peroxide and catalase activity in leaves
of wild dicotyledonous plants, as an indication of automobile exhaust pollution. Environ
Pollut 1986; 42, 189-295. |
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