Abstracto

Assessment of pollution tolerance index of selected plant species in abakaliki metropolis, south –eastern, Nigeria

U.N.Uka, K.S.Chukwuka

In the recent years,AbakalikiMetropolis witnessed increase in urbanization and industrialization, which lead to increase in air pollution resulting from dusts, smokes and domestic wastes. The roads are adorned with plants that are used in landscaping. It is therefore necessary to find out the role of these plants in mitigating pollution. This study was carried out to assess the air pollution tolerance indices of four plant species that are widespread in Abakaliki Metropolis with the goal of determining their suitability for urban plantation and development. The leaves of the four plant species were collected at three different sites. Standard methods were adopted for ascorbic acid, pH, chlorophyll and relative water content analysis of these plants. The values were used to compute the air pollution tolerance index (APTI) of each plant species as well as the assessment of its tolerance and sensitivity. In the present study,APTI values of less than 16 were recorded for Gmelina aborea (8.87) in site 3 and Terminalia catappa (6.22) in site 2 and (8.98) in site 3, thus they can be used as indicators of air pollution in these sites. Mangifera indica and Carica papaya hadAPTI values ranging from 89.6 – 98.1 and 91.1 – 106.67 respectively in the studied sites, thus it can be deduced that these plants are tolerant to air pollution.