Donnish Journal of Agricultural Research

November 2015 Vol. 2(8), pp. 071-076

Copyright © 2015 Donnish Journals

Original Research Article

Study of the Activity of Air Pollution on the Leaves of Urena lobata Growing along Busy Roads

J. E. Otoide

Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Science, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.

Corresponding Author's E-mail: jonathan.otoide@eksu.edu.ng

Accepted 21st October, 2015.

Abstract

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The leaves of Urena lobata growing along the sides of busy roads of Oluku, Agbor and Sapele in Benin City were studied vis-a-vis those growing in forest areas of Ebvomodu, Eyaen and Ebvoneka villages in the outskirt of Benin City for the activity of air pollution. Collections made from along busy roads constituted the polluted populations while those from the villages constituted the non-polluted populations. The polluted populations were collected within the distances of 0-0.5m from the tarred portions while those for the non-polluted populations were collected at distances of 50-60km away from the busy roads. The lengths and widths of the leaves were measured with the aid of a metre rule to determine the average leaf area (LA) while the upper and lower epidermis were peeled and mounted temporarily on slides for microscopic observations and line drawings. The average leaf areas (cm²) of 61.64 ± 0.68, 12.18 ± 0.48 and 8.21 ± 0.55 were calculated for Oluku, Agbor and Sepele Roads respectively, while, 64.99 ± 0.18, 77.33 ± 0.28 and 67.81 ± 0.41 were calculated for Ebvomodu, Ebvoneka and Eyaen villages respectively. Consequently, the leaves from the polluted road sides were smaller than those from the non-polluted villages. The epidermal cell walls of leaves of the polluted and non-polluted populations of this species were sinuous in both leaf surfaces and comprised of diacytic stomata. Stomatal pores were plugged in both the upper and lower leaf surfaces of the polluted populations. The lengths and widths of stomatal pores for the non-polluted populations were 1.39 ± 0.10, 1.35 ± 0.46 and 1.31 ± 0.17 and 0.40 ± 0.33, 0.44 ± 0.92 and 0.46 ± 0.36 for the upper leaf surface, respectively while, at the lower leaf surface, the lengths and widths of pores of stomata were 1.59 ± 0.67, 1.51 ± 0.54 and 1.48 ± 0.14 and 0.42 ± 0.18, 0.43 ± 0.11 and 0.49± 0.86 respectively. Microscopic observations of the leaves from the polluted microhabitats revealed that the stomatal pores were plugged at both the upper and lower surfaces. This was suspected to be as a result of the cumulative effects of the air pollutants that dominated busy roads where the plant grows. This was, however, not the case with the leaves from non-polluted microhabitats in which the stomatal pores were not plugged. It was opined that this specie could serve as a pointer to the negative activity of pollution common in busy roads.

Keywords: Busy roads, Leaves, Air pollution, Urena lobata, Plugged stomata, Lengths and widths, Non-polluted, Polluted, Populations, Leaf epidermis, Microhabitats.

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Cite This Article:

J. E. Otoide. Study of the Activity of Air Pollution on the Leaves of Urena lobata Growing along Busy Roads. Donnish Journal of Agricultural Research 2(8) 2015 pp. 071-076.