Assessment of Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) and Anticipated Performance Index (API) of Roadside Plants for the Development of Greenbelt in Urban Area of Bathinda City, Punjab, India

• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-020-03027-0
• Publication Date: 2020-10-18T15:02:56Z
• Authors: Radheshyam Yadav; Puneeta Pandey
• Keywords: Chlorophyll; Air Pollutants; India; Water; Plants; 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences; 6. Clean water; Plant Leaves; 13. Climate action; Air Pollution; 11. Sustainability; Seasons; Cities; Environmental Monitoring; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

The aim of the present study is to biomonitor the tolerance level of roadside plant species towards mitigation of air pollution for the development of greenbelt. The leaves of four plant species (Azadirachta indica, Ficus benghalensis, Melia azedarach and Polyalthia longifolia) were collected from 41 sampling sites of Bathinda city during summer and winter seasons. Seasonal variation in APTI and API was determined in selected plants. Highest APTI (13.54) was reported in F. benghalensis during summer and lowest APTI (11.69) in A. indica during winter season. The APTI and API value revealed that F. benghalensis was the best performer, A. indica and M. azedarach were excellent performers and P. longifolia a good performer in greenbelt development to mitigate the air pollution. Pearson's correlation analysis illustrated significant correlation between APTI, ascorbic acid, total chlorophyll, relative water and pH, respectively.