Assessment of Foliar Parameters and Air Pollution Tolerance of Broad Leaved Trees in Ugwuele Quarry Site, Uturu, Nigeria

Ogbonna C. E.¹, Nwafor F. I.², Ugbogu E. A.^3, and Nwazue K.¹

¹Department of Environmental Resource Management, Abia State University, Uturu

²Department of Pharmacognosy and Environmental Medicines, University of Nigeria Nsukka

³Department of Biochemistry, Abia State University, Uturu

Cite this paper:
Ogbonna C. E., Nwafor F. I., Ugbogu E. A. and Nwazue K.. Assessment of Foliar Parameters and Air Pollution Tolerance of Broad Leaved Trees in Ugwuele Quarry Site, Uturu, Nigeria. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2018; 6(2):48-56. doi: 10.12691/aees-6-2-2

Abstract

This present study assessed oxidative stress and air pollution tolerance of selected broad leaved trees in the vicinity of a quarry site at Ugwuele, Uturu by assessing some physiological and biochemical properties of their leaves. Three trees Alchornea cordifolia, Nauclea latifolia and Newbouldia laevis growing in the quarry site were randomly selected for this study. The result of quantitative analysis of foliar parameters shows that the epidermal cells of A. cordifolia and N. laevis were completely deformed and the guard cells became plasmolysed. The pore length, width and area had higher values at control samples and were significantly different (P<0.05) when compared with those from the study area. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in pH and total chlorophyll content of the evaluated plants. N. laevis had the highest air pollution tolerance index of 22.34, thus making N. laevis the most tolerant to air pollution among the studied plants. Based on the findings of this study, N. laevis tree is recommended for bio-mitigation of air pollution from the quarry environment.

Keywords:
quarry site broad leaved trees foliar parameters air pollution tolerance Newboudia laevis

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