Needle Morpho-Anatomy and Pollen Morphophysiology of Selected Conifers in Urban Conditions

Abstract

Comparison of twelve conifer species (Abies alba, A. concolor, A. nordmanniana, A. pinsapo, Cedrus atlantica, C. deodara, Picea abies, P. omorika, P. pungens, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Taxus baccata, and Pinus nigra) in the sense of needle morpho-anatomy and pollen morpho-physiology, in correlation to air pollution, was performed for the first time. Analyzed properties of species were also compared with literature sources. Listed conifers were investigated in five Belgrade parks, characterised by different degrees of air pollution, especially CO2. Their rank, I-V, was performed from non-polluted to heavily-polluted parks. Ranking in the sense of needle morpho-anatomy and pollen morpho-physiology did not match expected ones, but park V remained the worst for many analyzed species. Trees with shorter needles had greater stomatal density, which was particularly prominent in A. alba, A. nordmanniana, P. abies, P. omorika, P. nigra and T. baccata. The pollen grains of C. atlantica and T. baccata were the most sensitive to air pollution. In some analyzed species distance of particular trees close to the heavy traffic also was in correlation with needle dimensions (P.

Ecological adaptations among spruce species along an environmental gradient in urban areas

“…Among the assortment of plants, preference is given to those with high phytoncide 1254 (2023) 012114 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1254/1/012114 2 properties [6,10,11]. In particular, such plants are conifers, which clean the air of harmful substances all year round, absorbing almost all types of chemical compounds entering the atmosphere with emissions from industry, energy, motor vehicles [12][13][14][15]. However, improving environmental conditions, coniferous plants themselves suffer from the negative effects of air pollutants, which leads to changes in their biological parameters, biochemical characteristics and, in general, to a decrease in their viability [6,11,16].…”

“…However, improving environmental conditions, coniferous plants themselves suffer from the negative effects of air pollutants, which leads to changes in their biological parameters, biochemical characteristics and, in general, to a decrease in their viability [6,11,16]. Due to this speed of reaction to pollutants substances, plants of conifers are used as environmental indicators [5,6,10,13].…”

“…Emissions from industrial enterprises and intensive traffic lead to the formation of harmful substances in the air, among which are noted: nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc. [13][14][15]. The negative impact of pollution is enhanced by adverse natural and climatic conditions, which in the steppe zone are exacerbated due to climate change, which causes global warming [17,18].…”

Ecological and biological features of the development of introduced species of the genus Abies Mill

“…Green plantings are leveled by unfavorable factors of natural and man-made origin, are exposed to chemical, physical, biological and complex pollution. The high degree of influence of urbanized territories negative factors often leads to vegetation weakening, damage by diseases and pests, loss of their biological stability, decrease in decorative properties, premature aging and trees drying [5,8,13,[17][18][19][20].…”