Sensitivity of Taraxacum officinalis (L.) Weber ex F. H. Wigg Pollen to aerogenic pollution in the conditions of a mega city

Abstract

Aim. To determine the consequences of the impact of automobile emissions on the environment of the city of Kyiv using the palynological method. Methods. The quality of Taraxacum officinalis (L.) Weber ex F. H. Wigg pollen was determined by the iodine method (Gram staining). All pollen grains without typical signs of morphological structure (that is, all but normally developed) were considered teratomorphic. Results. The effect of aerogenous load on the viability of Taraxacum officinalis plant pollen was studied at test sites of park ecosystems of the city of Kyiv with different traffic intensities and proximity to city highways. It was established that in the conditions of the metropolis under various effects of air pollution, the quality indicators of the pollen of the bioindicator remain high, within 77.79 % (test site No. 1, which is located closest to the highways, where Nox is 2.11 g/s, CH – 2,86 g/s) to 81.77 % (test site No. 2 in Mariinsky Park, which has the best environmental conditions: the mixture of nitrogen oxides is 0.41, which is almost five times less than at test site No. 1 in Peremohy Park). The largest share of teratomorphic pollen (34.98 %) was recorded in T. officinalis plants in Peremogy Park test site No. 1, the smallest (26.86 %) was found in plants growing in Mariinsky Park at test site No. 2. When analyzing the data, it was determined that a high level of inverse correlation has an indicator of the fertility of pollen grains with all investigated components of air pollution (r = from -0.57 – Pb compounds to -0.73 – soot). Conclusions. Therefore, the qualitative indicators of the pollen of the phytoindicator T. officinalis can be recommended for use in the system of ecological monitoring of the environment with different degrees of aerogenic load.