SYMPTOMATOLOGY PROJECT
FUTURE ACTIVITIES
The symptomatology plots will be visited again in 1 989, then the final report will be prepared. These plots may become a part of a proposed long term monitoring program to assess condition of various forest ecosystems in the United States.
The final report for the mortality mapping project will be pre
pared by early 1 989. Plans are being made to rephotograph the areas in 1 989 and 1 990 to determine any changes in the extent or intensity of red spruce and balsam fir mortality in the northeastern United States.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The symptomatology project is being conducted in co
operation with the USDA Forest Service in West Virginia and the State Forestry Agencies in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The College of Forest Re
sources Graphics Lab at the University of Maine has provided technical assistance for the mapping project. The aerial pho
tography was acquired by the USDA Forest Service Methods Application Group in Colorado.
Air Pollution and Forest Decline (J.B. Bucher and I . Bucher-Wall'in, eds.) .
Proc. 1 4th Int . Meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems, IUFRO P2. 0 S , Interlaken, Switzerland , Oct . 2-8 , 1 988 . Birmensdorf, 1 989 , p . 486-488 .
A NEW METHOD IN EVALUATION OF SULFURDIOXIDE TOLERANCE OF CERTAIN TRESS M . S . R . MURTHY* , S.H.RAZA* and ADEEL AHMED+
• Department of Botany, Osmania University , Hyderabad-500 007, INDIA +nepartment of Physics , Nizam College , Hyderabad-500 007, INDIA.
ABSTRACT
T h e paper proposes new method in evaluation i:;j tol erance of trees to SO2 pollution stress and group ing p l ants as ind icator s and contro l l e r s by tolerance index values . T h e ind ex is c a l cu l ated by new arithmatic formu l a , STI ( Sulfur d iox ide tolerance index ) = A ( T + N ) + R / S w h ere A = Ascorbic acid , T Total c h l orop h y l l , N = Total nitrogen , R Relative water content and S = Foliar sul fate accumulation . Based on the ind iv idual contr i butions of these parameters in i m parting so 2 tolerance,
;; _i m p l e cor relation anal y s i s h a s been u s e d to derive a statis tical ly def ined a p p r oach in model l ing the process of SO 2 tolerance . A model is developed w h i c h pred ictea qua l itative d ifferences in p h y s io
l ogical tol erance of trees to SO2 and has divided the trees into Group A , B , C and D . T h e model is found useful in uncovering tol erant and susceptible p l ants to so2 .
INTRODUCTION
T h e relative tolerance of a tree to so 2 pollu
tion i s an intr ins ic factor of morpholog i cal and p h y iolog ical d efens e mechanism s . Mor p h o l og ical tolerance mechanism inc lude t h i c k cuticl e , stomata!
res istance , hairy s t ructures w h i c h minimises the entry of gas into the l eaf . On the other h and p h y s iolog ical tol erance i s much important in reduc ing t h e tox icity of gas . P h y s iolog i cal tolerance of a tree to so2 pollution mainly depends on chloroph y l l , presence of free rad i cal scavengers such as ascor b i c acid , per iox•idase, superox ide d is mutase etc . , suff ic ient nitrogen a v a i l a b i l ity and rel ative water content and low sulfate leve l s . These factors are s o neces sary that the i m b a l ance in any one of these parameters wou l d resu l t in t h e decl ine of p h y s iological tolerance to so2 (Olyszyk and T ingey , 1 9 8 4 ; Murray 1 9 8 5 ; Rao 1 9 8 6 ) . Hence a comprehens ive study invol ving a l l these parameters are very muc h needed in the f i e l d cond itions to draw tolerance level s . Hence an attem p t has been made in the present investigat ion to br ing out the relative tolerance of 11 tropical trees interm s of em peir i cal value or ind ex com p r i s ing t h e ind iv i dual contri butions of chlorop hy l l , as cor bic acid , nitrogen , relative water content and l ower sul fate accumulation .
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study has been m a d e on a comparitive bas is cons ider ing two sites v i z . , N acharam Industrial com p l ex and N izam Col l ege botanical gardens w h ich are h ig h l y and less pol luted areas respectively . Nac haram industrial com p l ex i s located in South east of Hy derabad and l ocates wide var iety of factor ies v iz . , P harmacuetical s , d i stil leries , brewer
ies , ferti l iser s , food produc t s , dyes and ferrow a l l oy products . N i zam col l ege botanical gardens w h i c h is near ly 1 2 km away from N ac h aram is found relatively free from aer ial em i s s ions and
486
was h ence selected as less pol luted area , represen
ting t h e control . The peak levels and annual f'eans of SOi. in the pol l11ted area were 111 0 µg / m and 1 4µg / lllli respectively f h i l e in control area it was 8 µg / m3 and 8 0 µg / m of annual means and peak l e v e l s respectively ( Murthy , 1 9 8 8 ) .
P !ant sampl ing was d one quarter! y for two y ears ( March 1 9 8 4 -February 1 9 8 6 ) . Since most of the vegetation com p r i ses d eciduous t y p e s a m p l ing per iod has been arranged such that i t coinc ides with biolog ical age of new ! y orig inated l eaves and o l d l eaves before their fa l l . Sam pl ing was done in ear l y morning hour s and care was taken such that s a m p l ing was done und er isoecolog ical cond itions of l ig h t , temperature and soi l cond itions . Leaves after col l ection were im med iate! y broug h t to labo -
ratory and were anal y s ed for c h l orop hy l l ( Arnon , 1 9 4 9 ) , ascorbic acid ( Singh , 1 9 7 7 ) , ni trogen ( P i per , 1 9 66 ) sul fate ( Patter son , 1 9 5 8 ) and relative water content ( Sing h , 1 9 7 7 ) .
Sul fur d iox ide tolerance index ( STI ) was esti mated by the fol l owing formula which has been proposed in the present investigation to quantify the tol erances of trees to SO . Sulfur d iox ide tol erance index ( STI ) = [ A ( T+N ) + R ] 7 S where A=Ascor b i c acid ( mg / l 0 0 g dry wt ) ; T =Total c h l orop h y l l ( mg / g d ry wt ) ; N = N i trogen ( % ) ; R=Relative water content ( % ) S=sul fate ( p pm ) .
RESULTS
A verage values of two y ears d ata of sulfate accumulat ion , p h y s iolog i cal sum and STI values are presented in Tab.l e- I . It is observed that the index va lues of trees growing in control area were higher than t h os e of trees growing in pol luted environment . Sulfate content was apprecia b l y h ig h in trees growing in p o l l uted env ironments . Stat i s tical anal y s i s has been made to test h owfar the increase in sul fate content in foliage s ignificant ! y influences index va lues . It is revealed that most of the p l ants have s h own s ignif icant negative rel ation w i t h varied l e v e l s of sulfate ( Ta b l e - I ) . It was a l s o observed that most of the trees were found s h owing positive s ignificant relat ions h i p in increas ing STI values at an increased p h y s iolog i cal sum ( Ta b l e- I ) .
DISCUSSION
T h e method aims in deriving an empir ical figure cal led ' Index value ' for evaluating so 2 tole
rance of a tree under l ow l evel s of so 2 . It results from t h e ratio of p h y s iolog ical factors 1 . e . P h y s io
l og i cal sum which offers res istance to so2 pollution and sulfate content w h i c h induces tox icity . P h y s io
l og ical factors include total c h l orop h y 11 - ( T ) , ascor b i c acid ( A ) , N itrog en ( N ) , relative water content ( R ) . C h l orop h y l l has been sel ected because of its eff ic ient ro1f-_ through p hotoox idation in 2_
c onverting tox ic so 3 radicals to less toxic SO 4
T a b l e : 1 L i s t of trees s h ow ing their tol erances in des cend ing order and coeff icient of corr elation values between foliar so4 and STI , P h y s iolog ical sum and STI
L P H P t values
Name of the Tree Fol .SO 4 Phy .Sum STI Fol .SO 4 Phy .Sum STI Fol .SO4Vs STI "Phy .Su m Vs STI
G ROUP A
Caes a l p inia pul cherima 0 . 0 2 4 1 5 1 . 8 6 I . 3 1 0 . 0 29 1 5 3 . 1 7 1 . 0 7 -0 . 9 6 * * 0 . 8 5 * * Eugenia j am bolana 0 . 0 0 9 1 1 6 . 4 I . 6 7 0 . 0 3 7 1 1 7 . 68 0 . 4 8 -0 . I ON S 0 . 3 4N S P hoenix s y l vestris 0 . 0 0 6 1 7 1 . 2 7 4 . 2 7 0 . 0 5 4 1 7 2 . 5 2 0 . 6 5 -0 . 9 2 * * 0 . 7 4 *
G ROUP B
A zad irachta ind ica 0 . 0 0 8 2 3 8 . 7 7 3 . 6 3 0 . 0 3 5 1 7 5 . 4 0 . 7 9 -0 . 8 0 * 0 . 8 9 * * Annona s quamosa 0 . 0 0 6 1 9 3 . 8 2 3 . 28 0 . 0 3 4 1 6 0 . 5 0 . 7 1 -0 . 5 4 * 0 . 7 1 * A l b i z z ia lebbeck 0 . 0 1 0 1 3 3 . 6 1 l . 9 8 0 . 0 5 0 1 3 2 . 6 0 . 4 8 -0 . 8 4 * * 0 . 60 * Dal bergia s i s soo 0 . 0 1 2 2 3 6 . 3 9 4 . 3 6 0 . 0 8 2 20 2 . 8 0 . 4 7 - 0 . 2 3N S 0 . 7 5 * Cassia fistula 0 . 0 0 6 2 1 4 . 7 3 . 3 0 0 . 0 6 7 1 7 5 . 3 0 . 3 3 -0 . 9 5 * * 0 . 5 2 *
---P i thecolob ium du l ce 0 . 0 0 6 2 3 7 . 5 3 . 9 5 0 . 0 8 4 2 1 1 . 5 0 . 3 2 -0 . 9 6 * * 0 . 5 9 * Pongamia g l abra 0 . 0 1 2 1 4 6 . 3 l . 3 8 0 . 0 9 5 1 2 2 . 0 0 . 1 3 -0 . 1 8N S 0 . 9 5 * * P o l y a l t h i a
l ongifol ia 0 . 0 1 8 1 20 . 4 1 . 1 1 0 . 0 9 1 1 1 5 . l 0 . 1 3 -0 . 8 5 * 0 . 8 7 *
Average values of two y ear d ata .
Fol .SO 4-Fol iar Sulfate ( % ) Phy . sum - P h y s iol ogical sum ; STI-sulfurd iox ide tol erance index . L P -Less pol luted area ; H P -Hig h l y polluted area ; * - s ignificant at 5 % level * * -s ignif icant a t 1% level ; df=7 , N S-Not s ignifi cant .
( Ol')lszy k and T ingey , 1 9 8 4 ) . Ascor b i c acid has been kept in the formula becaus e of its prime i m portance in scavenging free rad ica l s ge n e r a t e d dur ing sul p h ite conversion . Nitrogen is a l s o very im portant as its bal ance w i l l be hel pful in a s s i m i l ating excess sulfate generated in a tree due t o
so2 ex posur e . The presence o f sufficient quantities of water is a l s o important to overcome high trans -p i ration rates und er -pol lution stress . Hence , these 4 -parameters have been sumed up a s " PHYSIOLOGICAL
SU M " and has been kep t in the numerator of the formul a with an express ion [ A ( T+N ) + R ) . Becaus e of p r imary im por tance in imparting tolerance , ascor b i c acid h a s been used as mul t i p l i cation factor in the formul a . Total c h l orop h y I I , and nitrogen content have been added together and then mul t i p l ied with ascor
bic acid . F ina l l y i t is added with relative water c ontent .
Though the above d ifferent detox ify ing mechani s m s reduce the tox icity of so2 to a greater ex tent , p l ant would f ina l l y be l eft over with a certain degree of sulfate accumulation . This k ind of accumulation of sul fate is named as " RESIDUAL SULFAT E " (S) . T h e res idual sulfate w i l l be tox ic enoug h to br ing c h l oros:is and nutritional imbalances ( Ke l l ar and Jager , 1 9 8 2 ) . Therefore res idual sulfate has been cons idered as final tox icant of SO metabol i s m and has been kept und er d enom inator o/ the formul a .
Most of the trees growing in pol luted areas have s h own l ow index values . These l ow values were resul ted from the increased accumulation of su!fate and d ecreased p h y s iological sum . However trees have s h own wide range of d ifference in the sulfate accumulation and maintaining the p h y s
iolo-gical sum . In v i ew of this a model has been sugges ted to c l a s s ify the trees into 4 groups A , B , C and D for the purpose of monitor ing and control l ing . Group A p l ants can act a s s inks of good p h y s iol og ical tol erance , so2 pollut ion by hav ing Caesal pinia , Eugenia , P hoenix were p l aced in this group . ( Model - I
)-.---Group B p l ants cou l d convert tox ic SO � - rad ica l s t o SO 4 but falls in assimilating SO 4 and show poor tol erance to res idual sulfate tox icity . I t l ea d s t o excess accumulat ion o f damage . That i s the reason why certain trees l i ke so4 and bring s ch ronic Pithecolob ium , and Dal berg ia though there were h ig h values of p h y s iological sum in unpol luted areas , there was a Jot of d amage in pol luted area s . These p l ants need nitrogen ferti l isation for tolerance imp rovement . T herefore these p l ants can be used for monitor ing on foliar su!fur basis . Higher index values s h ow the resistance against sulfate accumu
lat ion and decl ine of p hy s iolog ical sum ( Ta b l e - I ) . Low index value reveal just a revers of it . The observations were wel l sup ported by find ings of Chapekhar et a l . ( 1 9 8 5 ) and Rao ( 1 98 4 ) . C haracters of Group C and D p l ants were depicted in the model and these trees were not found in the p resent investigation because of l ow l evel s of so2 ex i s t ing in the field cond itions .
CONCLUSIONS
The formula is useful in evaluating the so2
tol erance of trees . Caesal p inia and Eugenia are res istant , and Pol y a·l thia and Ponagamiaare"" found suscep t i b l e trees to so2 pol l ution . The former re
p resenting h igher values of STI and latter w i t h l ow values .
A model representing the classification of plants for the programme of biomonitorin11 and controlling S02 pollution
,---� 502 Pollution
i---�
Mor, gas absomtion by plants
t-,---�
Less gas absorption by plants under low levels of 502 Under prolonged low levels 1---.of so2
Good physiological tolerance
Con,·eroion of toxic so2•
raGica1s, efficientscave�
ging of free radicals and assimilation of SO.t
-Increased growth
Gaining benefit
Marginal growth rise
Resistant and sink plant GROUP A
Poor physiological tolerance
Good conversion of so;
scavergTrs of free radi
cals but poo2_assimi
lation of SO 4 Residual sulfate increases
Chronic injury occurs indicator plant on foliar 504 basis and chronic injury
G ROUP S Ameliorates growth Reduces sulfate toxicity
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Prof . C . G. K . Ramanujam , Head , Department of Botany , Osmania Univers ity for the l a b oratory facil ities . The f inanc ial assistance of CSI R is Ji ig h l y ac know l edged .
REFERENCES
Arnon , D . I . 1 9 4 9 . Copper enzy mes in isol ated
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Chaphekar, S . B . , Ratna Kumar, M . Bhavani Shankar, M . 1 98 5 . Biomonitoring of industrial a ir
pol lution with p lants . P roc . Sy m p . b iomonitoring State . Env iron . India . pp . 2 5 8 - 2 6 -1-.
--Kel ler, T . and Jager, H . J . 1 98 0 . Der Eunflurs boden
burtiga sulfationen auf d en s chwefchalf sulfur dioxide-beg -aster A s s i m i l ation usorgane von w a l d aumarten . Augewante . Botani k . 5 4 , 77-89 .
Murray , F . 1 9 8 5 . Und er what cond itions can sulfur d iox ide be beneficial to p l ants . Prof . 7th C l ean A ir Congress 3 : 1 26- 3 1 .
488
At relatively high peak cone.
entrations of so2
Poor physiological toherance
Le�. conversition of SO ,ons, poor scaJenging of free radicals
Indicator plant on foliar damage basis
Good stomata!
resistance
Gil.CUP 8
Poor physiology Less i2E�rporation of 50_ 4 ,nto organic matter
Increased residual sulfate Chronic damaae
Indicator plant for biomon.itoring on foliar S04 basis
Gil.CUP 0
Murthy , M . S . R . 1 9 8 8 . Stud ies on vegetation
Thesis , air pol lution on
H y derabad • P h . D Ind ia .
i m pact of soil and of certain areas of Os mania Univers i t y , O l s z y k , D . M . and T inge y D . T . 1 98 4 .
of a i r pollutants-Evidence for the fication of so2 but not o3 . P l ant 9 9 9 - 1 0 0 5 .
P h y totox icity ph otod etox i P h y s iol . 7 4 : P atterson , G . B . 1 9 5 8 . Sul fur In : Colorimetri c d eter
-m ination of non-metals . International Sc ience Publ i c . Inc . NY , pp . 2 1 6 - 3 0 8 .
P iper, C . S . 1 9 6 6 . Soi l and P l ant ana l y s i s . International Sci . Pu b l i c . Inc . , New York .
Rao , D . N . 1 9 3 3 . To study the relative suscep t i b i l ity of s a p l ings of some com mon fruit and avenue trees to so2 pollution . F inal Tech . Report . of UGC Sponsored Research P r o j ect No . F . 2 3 - 1 1 5 / 79 ( SR . II ) p . 29 .
Singh , A . 1 9 7 7 . Practical p l ant p hy s iology , Kal y ani Pub l i s h ers ( N ew Del h i ) p . 26 6 .
Air Pollution and Forest Decline (J .B. Bucher and I . Bucher-Wallin , eds . ) .
Proc. 1 4th Int. Meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems, IUFRO P2.0S , Interlaken , Switzerland , Oct. 2-8 , 1 988 . Birmensdorf , 1 989 , p . 489 .
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ESTIMATED NEEDLE LOSS AND DIAMETER INCREMENT