Biomonitoring airborne pollution: a case study of “Urginea maritima” species in Bentael natural reserve – Lebanon

Abstract

Biomonitoring airborne pollution has been a widespread practice. Its advantages make it an alternative to costly technological techniques. In this context, a rare species "Urginea maritima" was tested to measure the changes surrounding Bentael natural reserve in Lebanon, triggered by the inauguration of a new road on its south side, and revealed alarming results through two years study (2015-2016). Three environmental indicators were evaluated: Air Pollution Tolerance Index, Total Antioxidant Capacity and leaf Relative Water Content. These factors showed the escalated evolution of the air pollution during the studied months. In addition, six parameters, separated between pollution markers and scavengers, were studied: hydrogen peroxide, pheophytin, proline, ascorbic acid, carotenoids and total phenolic compounds showed a gradual and sharp increase. The passive biomonitoring with plants confirmed to be a reliable method to evaluate airborne pollution effects which will expose new extent to establish a routine monitoring program in Lebanon.

Effect of dust accumulation on Quercus cerris L. leaves in the Ezer forest, Lebanon

“…These results indicate that oxidative stress mainly occurred in the contaminated sites. The findings of this study were consistent with those of Khairallah et al (2018). They reported a remarkable increase of H 2 O 2 levels in roadside Urginea maritima leaves when compared with those growing at the control site.…”

“…Agbaire & Akporhonor (2014) reported that tolerant plant species have the capacity to maintain high RWC under pollution stress, while less resistant species showed a decrease in their RWC. Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is a reactive oxygen species that is produced in plant cells under normal conditions, but increased levels indicate oxidative stress (Khairallah et al 2018). Proline and carotenoids are stress-associated molecules that scavenge harmful ROS and protect plants from oxidative damage (Khairallah et al 2018).…”

“…Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is a reactive oxygen species that is produced in plant cells under normal conditions, but increased levels indicate oxidative stress (Khairallah et al 2018). Proline and carotenoids are stress-associated molecules that scavenge harmful ROS and protect plants from oxidative damage (Khairallah et al 2018). Some researchers observed a decrease in the oxidative stress scavenger levels in species from a contaminated environment, while others reported an increase (Chauhan 2010, Agbaire & Akporhonor 2014, Sokolova et al 2020.…”

Screening of Plant Species Response and Performance for Green Belt Development: Implications for Semi-Urban Ecosystem Restoration

“…Analysis of variance shows the changes in the average quantitative variables with respect to the levels of categorical variables, as illustrated in several studies [44][45][46][47]. This study is significant since it promotes the use of cost-effective and eco-friendly use of passive bio-indicators to complement the physico-chemical approaches for air quality valuation [11,12,48], in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 7, 11, and 13 for the substantial reduction of air pollution. This is apt, especially in environments devoid of air quality monitoring stations such as in the current study [49].…”

An Assessment of Anticipated Pollution Index of Some Common Plants and Trees of Rohtak City of Haryana (India)

“…A number of previous studies have also shown a similar correlation between APTI and other biochemical parameters. [69][70][71][72] P = Polluted site, C = Control site Fig. -9: A Box and Whisker Plot for Sampling Session.…”