The Impact of Highway Motor Vehicle Traffic on Energy Stores in Selected Plant Species

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of vehicle emissions on energy stores in assimilation organs of five plant species on plots at different distances from the highway. On more remote plots (500 m away from the road) with lower level of pollutants there was a significant increase in the amount of energy in leaves of Negundo aceroides, Quercus rubra and Anthriscus sylvestris. The increase of energy in Quercus cerris was negligible and in the case of Fraxinus excelsior was even recorded a decrease in energy store. The tightness of the relationships between energy accumulated in plant leaves and the distance from the highway was as follows: N. aceroides > Q. cerris > Q. rubra > A. sylvestris. The most suitable for energy biomonitoring appear N. aceroides and A. sylvestris, which in the period of full highway operation bound significantly less energy than before its construction. Q. cerris have demonstrated greater ability to accumulate energy on Cambisols, F. excelsior on Fluvisols.