Effects of Particle Matters on Plant: A Review

The particle matter, particularly the suspended particle matter (PM <= 2.5) in the air is not only a risk factor for human health, but also affects the survival and physiological features of plants. Plants show advantages in the adsorption of particle matter, while the factors, such as the leaf shape, leaf distribution density and leaf surface microstructure, such as grooves, folds, stomata, flocculent projections, micro-roughness, long fuzz, short pubescence, wax and secretory products, appeared to play an important role determing their absorption capacity. In this paper, the research progress on the capture or adsorption of atmospheric particles was summarized, and the forest vegetation and woody plants were discuessed. In addition, special attentions were paid to the effect of haze-fog weather on greenhouse plant, the different responses of plant leaves to dust particles and suspended particles, as well as the effect of suspended particles on morphological change of plants. In the future, research should focus on the mechanism of the influence of particulate matter on plants. More advanced effective and convenient research methods like spectral detection method also need to be developed. This paper may provide reference for future studies on plants' response to haze and particle matter.