AUTHOR=Sabir Muhammad Azeem , Guo Wei , Nawaz Muhammad Farrakh , Yasin Ghulam , Yousaf Muhammad Talha Bin , Gul Sadaf , Hussain Tanveer , Rahman Shafeeq Ur 

TITLE=Assessing the effects of limestone dust and lead pollution on the ecophysiology of some selected urban tree species

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1144145

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1144145

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Soil and air pollution caused by heavy metals and limestone dust are prevalent in urban environments and they are an alarming threat to the environment and humans. This study was designed to investigate the changes in morphological and physiological traits of three urban tree species seedlings (<italic>Bombax ceiba, Conocarpus lancifolius</italic>, and <italic>Eucalyptus camaldulensis</italic>) under the individual as well as synergetic effects of heavy metal lead (Pb) and limestone dust toxicities. The tree species were grown under controlled environmental conditions with nine treatments consisting of three levels of dust (0, 10, and 20 g) and three levels of Pb contaminated water irrigation (0, 5, and 10 mg L<sup>−1</sup>). The results depicted that the growth was maximum in T<sub>1</sub> and minimum in T<sub>9</sub> for all selected tree species. <italic>B. ceiba</italic> performed better under the same levels of Pb and limestone dust pollution as compared with the other two tree species. The <italic>B. ceiba</italic> tree species proved to be the most tolerant to Pb and limestone pollution by efficiently demolishing oxidative bursts by triggering SOD, POD, CAT, and proline contents under different levels of lead and dust pollution. The photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, evapotranspiration rate, and transpiration rate were negatively influenced in all three tree species in response to different levels of lead and dust applications. The photosynthetic rate was 1.7%, 3.1%, 7.0%, 11.03%, 16.2%, 23.8%, 24.8%, and 30.7%, and the stomatal conductance was 5%, 10.5%, 23.5%, 40%, 50.01%, 61.5%, 75%, and 90.9%, greater in T<sub>2</sub>, T<sub>3</sub>, T<sub>4</sub>, T<sub>5</sub>, T<sub>6</sub>, T<sub>7</sub>, T<sub>8</sub>, and T<sub>9</sub> plants of <italic>B. ceiba</italic>, respectively, as compared to T<sub>1</sub>. Based on the findings, among these three tree species, <italic>B. ceiba</italic> is strongly recommended for planting in heavy metal and limestone dust-polluted areas followed by <italic>E. camaldulensis</italic> and <italic>C. lancifolius</italic> due to their better performance and efficient dust and heavy metal-scavenging capability.</p>