Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 186, Issue -, Pages 234-240Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.12.011
Keywords
Urban roadside vegetation; Filter; Particulate matter; Ecosystem services
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Funding
- Postgraduate Research and Study Programme Perspectives on Urban Ecology - the Example of the European Metropolis of Berlin [DFG - GRK 780]
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Among air pollutants, particulate matter (PM) is considered to be the most serious threat to human health. Plants provide ecosystem services in urban areas, including reducing levels of PM by providing a surface for deposition and immobilization. While previous studies have mostly addressed woody species, we focus on herbaceous roadside vegetation and assess the role of species traits such as leaf surface roughness or hairiness for the immobilization of PM. We found that PM deposition patterns on plant surfaces reflect site-specific traffic densities and that strong differences in particulate deposition are present among species. The amount of immobilized PM differed according to particle type and size and was related to specific plant species traits. Our study suggests that herbaceous vegetation immobilizes a significant amount of the air pollutants relevant to human health and that increasing biodiversity of roadside vegetation supports air filtration and thus healthier conditions along street corridors. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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