Plant biomonitoring: Impact of urban environment on seasonal dynamics of storage substances and chlorophylls of oleander

Abstract

In the present study seasonal changes of chlorophyll content and storage substances related to the metabolic response of the widespread, evergreen plant oleander (Nerium oleander) to air pollution were investigated. Mature leaves of oleander shrubs, grown at five sites of differing levels of air pollution in the center and the suburbs of the Athens Metropolitan area, were examined during the course of a year. Soluble sugars, starch and total lipid content of the leaves showed a peak at the end of the cold season, while a decline was detected during the main growth period. Leaf chlorophyll content was increased during spring. It seems likely that the level of air pollution in Athens did not affect the concentration and the seasonal pattern of storage substances at the leaf level. Elevated chlorophyll content was estimated in the polluted with oxides of nitrogen sites. In contrast, leaf chlorophyll content declined in sites with ozone pollution. © 2011 Global NEST Printed in Greece. All rights reserved.