Determinación de la tolerancia a la contaminación del aire de 10 especies leñosas presentes en la zona de mayor concentración de PM10 en la ciudad de Bogotá

Abstract

In a city like Bogotá D.C., which is the second most polluted in Colombia, and the fourth most polluted city in Latin America, it is necessary to plant atmospheric pollution tolerant plants as a way to mitigate it. Although the sensitivity and response of plants to air pollutants is variable, this can be evaluated in the changes at the physiological and biochemical level of the plant. The air pollution tolerance index (APTI), is the tool that allows us to know, therefore, based on four biochemical parameters in the leaves (relative moisture content, ascorbic acid, pH and total chlorophyll content), the tolerance or sensitivity that plants can present under certain conditions. In the present study, the air pollution tolerance of ten woody species present in the area with the highest concentration of PM10 in Bogotá was determined. The results indicated that 30% of the evaluated species are within the "intermediate tolerance" range, while the remaining 70% are within the "sensitive" range to air pollution; corresponding in the first to the species S. nigra, F. soatensis, and A. melanoxylon.