Air pollution tolerance index in plant species of Rajasthan, India

Water and land pollution, both are very dangerous. But, in contrast air pollution has its own peculiarities due to its trans-boundary dispersion of pollutants over the entire world. In any well planned urban set up, industrial pollution takes a back seat and vehicular emissions take precedence as the major cause of urban air pollution. No physical or chemical method is known to ameliorate industrial or traffic air pollution. A suitable alternative way is to grow green plants in and around industries, traffic areas and along roadsides. Response of plants towards air pollution was assessed by air pollution tolerance Index (APTI) value. Four physiological and biological parameters including leaf relative water content (RWC), ascorbic acid (AA) content, total leaf chlorophyll (TCh), and leaf extract pH were used to develop an APTI. The vegetation monitoring in terms of its APTI acts as a 'Bioindicator' of air pollution and has been incorporated in the assessment of the present study.