With the industrial revolution came a major problem to the environment in form of pollution. Either from the industries themselves or from the products of the industries which are being used by humans in their day to day activities, pollutants are being released into the environment. As I am composing this article, somewhere around the world, the atmospheric air is becoming deadlier by the day, aquatic lives are being lost, underground water is being poisoned and human lives and properties continue to be under threat. While it is easy to identify the source of some of the substances responsible for the pollution, it is not as easy to know the source of others. However, it is quite pertinent to monitor the type and the extent of pollution in our environment so as to safeguard human lives and properties.
There are several devices that have been manufactured in order to monitor environmental pollution, especially the atmospheric ones. The devices are usually equipped with sensors.
These sensors work on the principle of measuring the attenuation of infrared radiation (with a specific wavelength) in the air. The sensors consist of an infrared radiation source, a light-water pipe and the infrared detector with the appropriate filter. The signal from the infrared detector is further amplified and then using other electronics evaluates the attenuation of the radiation, which is caused by carbon dioxide, and on this basis, the actual concentration of CO2 in the air is calculated. For simplification – the more CO2, the more the infrared radiation is attenuated, and electronics in the sensor can evaluate it. source
Aside from innovative devices, pollution or the presence of pollutants in the environment can be monitored using a living organism; a process known as biomonitoring. Using living organisms (especially plants) to monitor pollution has been reported to be cheaper, more convenient and more credible than other methods.
When it comes to using living organisms in the assessment of pollution in the environment, plants have and continue to be a major candidate. This is perhaps largely due to the fact that a lot of plant species from the different plant groups are able to tick all the right boxes. Cosmopolitancy, totipotency and ability to bioaccumulate pollutants are some of the attributes necessary for an organism to be considered a candidate of bioindication. The organism either show symptoms of being poisoned with the pollutant or analyzed in the laboratory for asymptomatic accumulation.
The different groups of plant can be utilized depending on whether the pollution type is aquatic, dryland or atmospheric. The algae are generally known to be aquatic and as such are mostly relevant in the assessment of aquatic pollutions. Comparison of species richness and diversity of algal assemblages in a water body suspected to be polluted with a reference water body can give an indication of the level of pollution and the type of pollutant.
Either independently or in combination with species richness/diversity comparison, the algal assemblages can be sampled using the appropriate method and taken to the laboratory for analysis. Structural or functional attributes such as biomass, chemical composition, and net primary productivity can be compared with reference site.
When it comes to using the application of plants specifically in the assessment of atmospheric pollutions, bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) have no known rivalry with any other plant group. They possess all the necessary attributes to the finest details and have a history of been used to monitor pollution even in the urban areas of advanced countries. They lack cuticles both on their leaves and other morphological structures and as such, obtain their nutrients and water requirements from the atmosphere. Their root-like rhizoid is merely utilised in the anchorage of the organism to substrates on which they grow.
Bryophytes are found growing almost anywhere moisture can be found. The group has been investigated and while some species were found to possess the capacity to bioaccumulate pollutants present in the atmosphere without showing any physical symptoms, a host of others show different degrees of reaction to the presence of pollutants. Depending on the nature of the pollutant, some species of the plant get their reproduction inhibited while the effect is exhibited by a reduction in photosynthesis in some.
Over the years, scientists have devised a variety of methods through which bryophyte can be used in the monitoring of pollutants in the atmosphere. Some species are known to show symptoms relative to the concentration of pollutants. These symptoms are sometimes studied and analysed among different communities with varying levels of pollutants. In another method, species of bryophytes are removed along with their substrate from a non-polluted area to a polluted area and then studied for injury or any other symptoms which could be attributed to the presence of pollutants. This transplantation, as it is favouritely called can be done in the soil using a moss bag or the bryometer method. Lastly, the plant can be used in pollution assessment using ecophysiological and phytosociological methods.
The advanced plants (the gymnosperms and angiosperms of this world) are not left out in pollution biomonitoring. Higher plants have been studied and discovered to respond to the presence of pollutants in the atmosphere with different species showing different characteristic symptoms to different pollutants. Air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, ozone, Peroxyacetyl Nitrate, hydrogen fluorides, chlorine, ammonia, ethylene and particulate matters inflict injury symptoms on plants, ranging from death of portions of plants (necrosis), premature dropping of leaves (abscission), down-curving of plant leaves (epinasty) to chlorophyll destruction or degeneration (chlorosis).
Recent research findings have shown that not only could some plant species be utilized in monitoring pollution but can also be used to trace the history or the evolution of environmental pollution in a particular area. In one of the researches by some Brazilian workers, a tree species, Tipuana tipu was found to have a high tolerance for heavy metals absorbed by its root from the surrounding soil as well as other pollutants in the surrounding atmosphere which are usually washed down by rainwater and absorbed by the plant's roots. These pollutants get translocated by the xylem into the body of the tree where they become accumulated and stored in the growth rings of the tree. Analysis of the chemical composition of the annual growth rings of the tree in the laboratory showed a varied concentration of heavy metals such as Cadmium, Copper, Nickel and Lead. Each annual growth ring gave an indication of the extent of the pollutants in the environment for past years.
The study of Tipuana tipu revealed that it can be used to study temporal changes in the environmental concentration of heavy metal pollutants. It would be interesting to know if other tree species would show a similar pattern of variation according to the ambient concentration of pollutants. I am quite sure attention would be given to this area of research and more information would emerge as times go by.
Thank you all for reading.
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I saw your recent steemhunt post of aeroqual pollution monitor. I was really happy with the innovation.
But I am more pleased with the info that the plants around us can also be used to monitor pollution. I believe this is good news as this method is cheaper and more reachable.
A very interesting piece... It was really enlightening
This is a topic that seems not relevant but is of extreme importance...I really applaud you for taking your time to enlighten us that those plants we disregard could actually be useful and this serves as a hint for more research ...I am really enlightened
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You're absolutely right in your assertion. "New levels of tech = new devils released". But with the advent of these devices to monitor our environment, I believe a feasible solution would be found for the mess humans have created in the environment.
But just as you would expect, humans would always be humans. Let's hope this would work to keep our environment as safe as possible.
Nice piece buddy
The menace of pollution or the electronic-based method of monitoring it isn't new to me but what's particularly new to me is the use of various named plants in monitoring the level of pollution.
I have certainly learnt a new thing today. Respect.
Thanks Olamseu. Plant is more than just the green colour. They are indispensable in the earth's ecosystem
I see. Good to know. Thanks.
Hi @gentleshaid!
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I lived many years in Santiago Chile. A capital city which air becomes particularly polluted during the winter months. Even though log burning has been prohibited for over a decade! But, over the next 3 years a new feature has been dotting the its neighborhoods. What there is called 'vertical gardens'. After reading your post I now understand their use goes beyond ornamental!
It is nice reading your material again my dear Shaid :) It feels as if it has been a while since I last read one of your posts. I told you this before, but won't mind repeating it here again: your blog has made me look at the plantae world from a whole new different lens!
Lots of love :*
Hey abii. Thanks for coming around to read my blog again, I feel accomplished each time you do. Yes, the vertical garden is much more than just ornamental structure, I am sure the plants are also serving the bioindication purpose. They absorb some of the pollutants in the atmosphere and either bioaccumulation with or without relevant symptoms. This can help environmental management to make decisions that would favour the environment.