Effects of trait variation, environment, and phylogeny on the air pollutant removal capacity of indoor plants

Abstract

Although it is well known that plants have the capacity to remove indoor air pollutants, there has been little research to investigate how this ability is regulated by the environment and evolutionary processes. In this study, we tested the capacity of 58 common indoor plants to remove three specific air pollutants. We also measured the traits, phylogenetic signals, and cultivated environments of these plants to analyze their relationship with the air pollutant removal capacity using Spearman’s correlation, Blomberg’s K test, and phylogenetic generalized least-squares. While we found trait variation had a significant correlation with removal capacity, we did not, however, detect a phylogenetic signal with removal capacity. Trait variation and environmental factors both contributed to the removal capacity in phylogenetic generalized least-squares, but again, without phylogeny. Our results show that plant trait variation, especially total leaf area, could play an important role in plant’s capacity to remove pollutants from indoor air. Moreover, environmental changes, not the phylogeny, could result in trait modification, improving the tolerance and purification capacities of these plants. The findings outlined here will help to explain how plants living with air pollution can adapt as well as the application of plants for the purpose of indoor air purification.

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“…Indoor air pollutants both include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and inorganic compounds, for example, formaldehyde, benzene, and ammonia (Brown et al 1994;Wolkoff 1995). Indoor air pollution is mostly a result of paint and glue off-gassing from household items (Ho et al 2011;Hyttinen et al 2007), such as furniture, building materials, and decorations.…”