Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 43(4): July 2017 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2017. 43(4):155–167 155 Tree Species as Tools for Biomonitoring and Phytoremediation in Urban Environments: A Review with Special Regard to Heavy Metals Claudia Dadea, Alessio Russo, Massimo Tagliavini, Tanja Mimmo, and Stefan Zerbe Abstract. Trees play an important role for the improvement of environmental quality in urban areas. The improvement of microclimate, runoff mitigation, carbon storage and sequestration, noise reduction, air purification through removal and fixation of pollutants in leaves, stems, and roots are ecosystem services provided by urban greening. Additionally, the capacity of certain tree species as bioindicator or to take up contaminants has to be taken into account. Presented here is a review that focuses on 9 ornamental tree species commonly planted along urban streets in Central Europe. Their poten- tial role for bioindication and phytoremediation was assessed. Due to physiological and morphological characteristics and to the intrinsic tolerance to several stress factors, some species seem particularly promising as an indicator for the state of the urban environment or to decrease the amount of specific pollutants. It must be pointed out that intrinsic species properties (e.g., tolerance and/or bioindication capacity for a specific contaminant) can help planners create an effective monitor- ing net in strategic areas of a city or to detect single contaminants representative of a specific human impact. In particu- lar, Betula pendula and Robinia pseudoacacia can be considered ideal, low-cost candidates for phytoremediation. Due to their high hardiness, pollution tolerance, and their characteristic as pioneer species, both species might additionally be taken into account as biomonitors, or for their foliar trapping capacity. Tilia cordata is also suitable for phytoremediation in urban environments due to its foliar trapping capacity that can provide valuable information on airborne pollutants. Key Words. Betula pendula; Bioindicators; Monitoring; Phytoremediation; Robinia pseudoacacia; Traffic Emission; Urban Planning; Volatile Organic Compounds. as indirectly, by decreasing air temperature and lowering the activity of chemical reactions, which produce secondary air pollutants in urban areas (Yang et al. 2005; Georgi and Dimitriou 2010). , NOx , and O3 Urban greening can potentially provide various ecosystem services, like microclimate improve- ment, runoff mitigation, carbon storage and sequestration, and noise reduction, as well as air purification through removal and fixation of pol- lutants in leaves, stems, and roots (Yang et al. 2005; Nowak et al. 2006; Buccolieri et al. 2011; Dobbs et al. 2011; Escobedo et al. 2011; Roy et al. 2012; Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013; Konijnendijk et al. 2013, Russo et al. 2014; Russo et al. 2016). In particular, trees can reduce air pollutants, both directly, by absorbing gaseous compounds, such as SOx through leaf stomata, as well Furthermore, leaves, bark, and the root system of trees, which are continuously exposed to atmo- spheric pollutants, such as wet and dry deposition, can trap or uptake, as passive accumulators, con- taminants bound both to airborne particulate mat- ter and/or to the soil, therefore becoming suitable for a long-term monitoring (Kardel et al. 2011). Vehicle traffic mainly contributes to air pol- lution in urban areas, generating gaseous pol- lutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx ), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), non-methane ), ammonia (NH3 volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), sulfur dioxide (SO2 ), and particulate matter (Bell et al. 2011). Particulate matter con- tains organic compounds, hydrocarbons, acid aerosols, and metals attached or adsorbed to a carbonaceous core (de Kok et al. 2006; Bell et al. ©2017 International Society of Arboriculture
July 2017
| Title Name |
Pages |
Delete |
Url |
| Empty |
Search Text Block
Page #page_num
#doc_title
Hi $receivername|$receiveremail,
$sendername|$senderemail wrote these comments for you:
$message
$sendername|$senderemail would like for you to view the following digital edition.
Please click on the page below to be directed to the digital edition:
$thumbnail$pagenum
$link$pagenum
Your form submission was a success. You will be contacted by Washington Gas with follow-up information regarding your request.
This process might take longer please wait
