Impact of dust accumulation on three roadside plants and their adaptive responses at National Highway 37, Assam, India

Abstract

Roadside plants are consistently exposed to dust. Deposition of dust on roadside plant and its impact on leaf epidermal traits as well as leaf pigment concentration, the percentage of carbon and nitrogen has been studied of three roadside plants i.e. Cassia alata, C. tora and C. sofera at National Highway - 37, Assam. Significant variation in terms of dust deposition with species specific result observed during the study. Declination of leaf pigment concentration, leaf area and nitrogen percentage along with increased leaf thickness indicate the dust pollution impact. Above findings may be helpful to find out some representative species for developing some model to cope with automobile generated dust pollution in future.