Photosynthetic apparatus efficiency of eight tree taxa as an indicator of their tolerance to urban environments

Abstract

Abstract: Urbantrees,especiallythosegrowingincloseproximitytoroads,sufferfromdifferentkindsofstress.Mostofroadsidestressfactorsareimpossibletobeavoidedthereforetheselectionoftoleranttreespe-ciesandcultivarsisofhighimportance.InourresearchweusedtheactivityofphotosystemIIandchlorophyllrelativecontenttomonitorphysiologicalstateof8speciesandcultivarsgrowinginurbanenvironmentsinWarsaw.Wecomparedyoungtreesgrowing2–3mawayfromtheroadandothersgrowingminimum8me-tersaway.Theexperimentallowedustoindicatethemosttoleranttaxatoroadsideconditions: Gleditsiatriacanthos , Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’, Platanus ×hispanica ‘Acerifolia’and Acer campestre .Wefoundthat Quercusrubra isrelativelytolerant. Tilia×europaea ‘Pallida’, Tiliacordata ‘Greenspire’and Ginkgobiloba shouldnot be planted in harmful habitats . Additionalkeywords: chlorophyll a fluorescence,PerformanceIndex,salinitystress,streetenvironment,urban trees. Addresses: T.Swoczyna,J.Borowski,E.Zaraś-Januszkiewicz,DepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection,WarsawUniversityofLifeSciences,Nowoursynowska159,02-776Warszawa,Poland,e-mail:tatiana_swo-czyna@sggw.plH.M.Kalaji,S.Pietkiewicz,DepartmentofPlantPhysiology,WarsawUniversityofLifeSciences,Nowo-ursynowska 159, 02-776 Warszawa, Poland, e-mail: hazem@kalaji.pl