AICE SURVEY OF USSR AIR POLLUTION LITERATURE,
VOLUME II. EFFECTS AND SYMPTOMS OF AIR POL-
LUTES ON VEGETATION, RESISTANCE AND SUSCEPTI-
BILITY OF DIFFERENT PLANT SPECIES IN VARIOUS
HABITATS, JN RELATION TO PLANT UTILIZATION FOR
SHELTER BELTS AND AS BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
d - '
M. Y. Nuttonson
American Institute of Crop Ecology
Silver Spring, Maryland
December 1969
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE
Distributed .,. 'to foster, serve
and promote the nation's
economic development
and technological
advancement.'
•
fi.
•
•••*•.
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Reproduced by
NATIONAL TECHNICAL
INFORMATION SERVICE
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AICE* SURVEY OF USSR AIR POLLUTION LITERATURE
Volume II
EFFECTS AND SYMPTOMS OF AIR POLLUTES ON VEGETATION; RESISTANCE
AND SUSCEPTIBILITY OF DIFFERENT PLANT SPECIES IN VARIOUS HABITATS,
IN RELATION TO PLANT UTILIZATION FOR SHELTER BELTS
AND AS BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Edited By
M. Y. Nuttonson
The material presented here is part of a survey of
USSR literature on air pollution
conducted by the
Air Pollution Section
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CROP ECOLOGY
This survey is being conducted under Grant 1 RO1 AP00786-01 APC
THE NATIONAL AIR POLLUTION CONTROL ADMINISTRATION
*AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CROP ECOLOGY
809 DALE DRIVE
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND 20910
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BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA
SHEET
1. Report No.
APTD-0636
'.. Title, and Subtli LeAICE SURVE£-GF USSR AIR POLLUTION LITERATURE-VSTT
II. Effects and Symptoms of Air Pollutes on Vegetation; Rejdstanbe
and Susceptibility of Differenct Plant Species inJ^riousJIabitat»7
3. Recipient'* Accession No.
5- Report Date
December 1969
in Relation to Plant Utilization for Shelter Belts and as Biolog,
7. Aucnor(s)
My.
• Indicators.
Y. Nuttonson
cal
I. Performing Organization Rept.
>. Performing Organisation Name and Address
American Institute of Crop Ecology
809 Dale Drive
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
10. Project/Task/Work Unit No.
11. Contract/Grant No.
AP00786-01
12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address
EPA, Air Pollution Control Office
Technical Center
Research Triangle Park, N. C. 27709
13. Type of Report & Period
Covered
14.
IS. Supplementary Notes
16. Abstracts
A compilation of reports of investigations dealing with a number of aspects of the
relationship of air pollution and vegetation. A number of these studies are concerned
with susceptibility of different plant species to various phytotoxic pollutants in
different parts of the country. Some of these are; th6 effect of industrial atmos-
pheric pollutants on various plant species grown as ornamentals and for sanitary-
protection purposes, the adverse effects of pollutants on indigenous and introduced
plant species. Other papers deal with the need to eliminate contaminants from the
atmosphere and to control air quality. Among some of the additional subjects discussed
are those of the effect of green plantings on the sanitary conditions of populated
areas. Attention is also given to ascertaining of some physiological responses of
various plants to specific air pollutants and their time-concentrations.
17. Key Words and Document Analysis.
Vegetation
Plant Growth
Plant Physiology
Industrial Atmospheres
Airborne Wastes
Ornamental Plants
17a. Descriptors
17k. Identifiers/Open-Ended Terms
Sanitary-protection
Plant resistance
Phytotoxicants
17e. COSATI Field/Group
2/D»
18. Availability Statement
Unlimited
19.. Security Class (This
Report)
UyjCLASSIFI
20. Security Class (This
"^CLASSIFIED
21. NoT of Pages
106
22. Price
FORM NTIS-SB ClO-70)
-------
This report was furnished to the
Air Pollution Control Office by
the American Institute of Crop
Ecology in fulfillment of Contract
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TABLE OFJCONTENTSC >-t-,-(>. Li- '*-,
v V UA ft fc- M •
Page
PREFACE v
USSR ORIENTATION MAP lx
USSR MAP OF CLIMATIC ZONES AND REGIONS x
PURIFICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR OF CONTAMINANTS FROM
INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGES,^
V. V. Oparin '. 1
INDUSTRIAL WASTES OF THE CITIES OF £AKU AND SUMGAIT AND
THEIR EFFECT ON GREEN PLANTINGS; \
R. 0. Amirov and A. R. Ismaylov 6
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ORNAMENTAL HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN
CHEMICAL WORKS,
V. M. Babkina 8
v
COKE- CHEMICAL WORKS,
THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL GAS ON THE GROWTH OF TREES AND
SHRUBS \
V. M. Ryabinin ..................................... 13
EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS ON THE VEGETATION OF BASHKIR.' \
•' A.S.S.R. ~ ,'
E. V. Kucherov and B. E. Fedorako ............... c. . 19
MEASURES TO ELIMINATE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION FROM
' "VTORTSVETMET" MILLS ]
1. S. Rozenshteyn and K. N. Gorbunova .............. 24
EFFECT OF PLANTINGS ON THE SANITARY AND HYGIENIC CONDITIONS
OF DENSELY POPULATED SETTLEMENTS;
Yu. G. Novoderzhkina, L. A. Andrianova and
G. G. Zheldakova ................................... 25
RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES FOR PLANTING SANITARY-PROTECTIVE
GREEN BELTS IN AREAS OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES.
V. D. Pryakhin 28
>' SMOKE RESISTANCE OF WOODY PLANTS AS AN ECOLOGICAL PROBLEM;
Yu. Z. Kulagin 32
:<• STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES OF TREES AND SHRUBS IN
RELATION TO GAS AND SMOKE RESISTANCE/ \
A. S. Sitnikova 35
\. MOISTURE CONDITIONS AND GAS RESISTANCE OF WOODY PLANTS ' -
Yu. Z. Kulagin 41
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f\ - • '
^ 4
Page
THE GAS RESISTANCE OF LOCAL AND INTRODUCED ARBOREAL
PLANTS UNDER THE CONDITIONS EXISTING IN
SVERDLOVSK OBLAST1 j
V. S. Nlkolaevskly 44
L
ASSORTMENTS OF GAS-RESISTANT LAWN GRASSES/
E. N. Kazantseva 50 /
RESISTANCE OF SOME GRASSES TO FLUORINE ' \
E. N. Kazan tseva ,\ 56
MAKING A CITY VERDANT /
B. V. Popov 60
URGENT QUESTIONS CONCERNING VERDANT PLANTINGS IN THE
CITY OF BAKU; /
A. G. Al'iev 76 f
•AN EXPERIMENT IN CREATING PROTECTIVE PLANTINGS IN THE
CITY OF KRASNOURAL'SK v
M. V. Bulgakov 79
TREES AND SHRUBS FOR MAKING THE DONETS COAL BASIN VERDANT' \
M. P. Voloshin ." .'..-' 85
COMBINING PROTECTIVE AND ORNAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
WOODY PLANTS • ^ -•-.,..
L. I. Vigorov . .\. 90
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PREFACE
Contamination of the natural environment constitutes a major problem
In all industrial regions of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The country's industry and transport are continually bringing about massive
qualitative changes in the habitat of man and vegetation through an ever
increasing pollution of air, soil, and streams. In recent years there has
been a greater awareness of the immense problems of air and water pollution
on the part of the urban and rural administrative agencies as well as on
the part of various research institutes of the USSR. There is a mounting
demand there to maintain a high quality physical environment. Protective
measures against the pollution threat are gradually taking shape. Much
relevant air pollution research data are being developed and are apparently
put to good use in different parts of this vast and diverse country.
Reports of investigations brought together in this volume deal with a
number of aspects of the relationship of air pollution and vegetation. A
considerable number of these investigations have been conducted in various
industrial regions of the USSR, regions that are geographically far apart
from each other and subject to distinctly different natural and man-made
environmental conditions.
Many of these investigations relate to the urban and rural areas partic-
ularly affected by air pollution and situated in widely separated industrial
regions, the three most important of which are:
1. The Ural Oblast' of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist
Republic (RSFSR), which occupies a most important position in the
industrial economy of the country. It lies in the interior of the
USSR midway between its European and Asian parts, that is, between
the country's older, highly developed industrial regions in the
west and its newer gigantic industrial regions of the east;
2. The Don Basin, which is situated over 1,000 miles west of the
Urals and lies in the Ukraininian SSR, the country's leading indus-
trial republic;
3. The Kuznetsk Basin of the RSFSR, which lies in central Siberia,
is more than 1,000 miles east of the Urals and constitutes the
country's most important eastern center for heavy industry.
A number of investigations dealt with in this volume relate to some of
the other industrial regions of the USSR. These include:
The Moscow Region, a most highly developed industrial region
of the central part of RSFSR;
The Azerbaizhan SSR, whose Apsheron Peninsula is the richest
oil region of the country, borders on the Caspian Sea and lies
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The Kazakh SSR, located deep in the Eurasian continent,
has rich deposits of oil and coal and many metallurgical
industries. Its vast land area makes it the second largest
republic of the country, after the RSFSR.
The problem of selecting suitable plants for new environmental conditions
— whether natural or man-made — has challenged man throughout the centuries
of his migration. Selection of plants for introduction and establishment in
a new environment may be a rather simple hit-and-miss undertaking, or it may
become a painstaking process requiring a knowledge of plant responses to
such potent factors of the physical environment as photoperiod, light inten-
sity, temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and soil fertility. It is rather
widely accepted now that air pollution, wherever it occurs, must be taken
into account as another highly potent factor in the physical environment of
plants. The nature of air pollution has to be considered in the assessment
of the environmental conditions prevailing in a given area in relation to
the overall problem of plant selection and plant adaptation. A plant,
irrespective of its genetic potentialities and elasticity of adaptation to
environmental conditions, responds to the various stresses of its environment.
These include the stresses of air pollution together with all the other
potent factors of the atmosphere as well as of soil and those of the biolog-
ical environment of a plant, notably, pests and diseases, and the quality
of management or abuse by man.
As will be seen from the data of the papers presented in this volume
a considerable number of studies are being conducted in the USSR in reference
to susceptibility or resistance of different plant species and varieties to
various phytotoxic air pollutants in different parts of the country.
It must be borne in mind that the data presented in this volume relate
to many diverse environments in a vast land area; that the USSR extends for
about 7,000 miles from west to east and 3,000 miles from north to south;
and that the country covers a wide range of climatic and soil conditions
throughout much of its north-south and west-east extent. In this connection,
a brief outline of the very general natural features of the USSR may be
desirable. Lowlands and plains dominate the landscape of the major portion
of the country. Its landscape can be roughly described as one consisting of
broad latitudinal climate-vegetation-soil belts of the lowlands and plains
and of narrow, vertical climate-vegetation zones of the highlands and
mountains. Each of the broad latitudinal belts is distinct from the other
in the major features of its climate, vegetation, and soils, though within
each latitudinal belt there is a decrease in the annual precipitation as
one proceeds from west to east. The latitudinal belts include the nearly
barren and treeless tundra in the extreme north, where the winters are
severe, the summers, short and cool, and where precipitation is very limited.
There follow the belts of the taiga or coniferous forests, mixed forests,
woodlands, forest prairie or forest steppe, the steppe, and the semi-desert.
Finally in the extreme south, east of Caspian Sea, there are the dry deserts,
hot in summer and cold in winter, and, along the southern reaches of the
Black Sea in Transcaucasia, there is a relatively limited area, humid and more
or less subtropical, which is subject to mild winters, hot sumners, and heavy
precipitation.
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A considerable number of surveys and studies presented in this volume
deal with the effect of industrial atmospheric pollutants on various plant
species grown as ornamentals and for sanitary-protection purposes in differ-
ent cities and localities at various distances from industrial sources, and
situated differently in respect to their directional position from specific
pollutant sources. The adverse effects of air pollution on some of the in-
digenous and introduced plant species — effects often leading to complete
plant destruction, such as for example, the death of ornamental plantings
in urban parks and gardens and the death of forest plantings — are described
in some of the studies. Susceptibilities to specific phytotoxic air pollu-
tants and injury symptoms in different species, ecotypes, and varieties are
also discussed.
A number of papers bring out the fact that the response to air pollution
differs with the plant species as well as with the ecotypes and varieties
within a species and that the growth stage of the plant, notably the age of
the leaf, is an important factor in determining its sensitivity to air pollu-
tants. Other papers deal with the need to eliminate contaminants from the
atmosphere and with the necessity to control air quality for the protection
of man and vegetation. Among some of the additional subjects discussed in
the papers are those of the effect of green plantings on the sanitary condi-
tions of populated areas; procedures for planting sanitary-protective green
belts in areas of industrial enterprises; and the establishment of verdant,
protective plantings in industrial cities and in their surroundings. Much .
attention is given in quite a few of the papers to the resistance of various
plants to different gases and to smoke, to some of the environmental condi-
tions and physiological indices in relation to smoke and gas resistance of
plants, and to the problem of plant selection for resistance to smoke and
gas pollution.
The data of several studies and surveys presented in this volume deal
with the ascertaining of some physiological responses of various plants to
specific air pollutants and their time-concentrations. On the basis of
experimental plot tests and field observations the genetic susceptibility
or resistance of certain plant species, ecotypes and varieties have been
determined in a number of areas. The use of the resistant plants in indus-
trial regions as shelter belt plantings around residential areas and in urban
parks, gardens, and street plantings appears to be a highly challenging
approach that .merits consideration. The same is true (a) in reference to
rural areas subject to air pollution where shelter belt plantings are used as
a means of protecting farm crops, forests, and other vegetation, and (b) in
reference to certain cultural practices that appear to be conducive to a less-
ening of plant sensitivity to phytotoxic air pollutants.
Some of the plant material identified in these studies as being particu-
larly sensitive to one or more pollutants merit consideration as potential
biological indicators that could possibly be utilized as monitors for air
pollution levels in a given area.
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It is hoped that the papers selected for presentation in this volume
will permit an assessment of some of the USSR studies dealing with the mani-
fold interrelationship:- of air pollution and vegetation. There is a possibil-
ity that the usefulness of such studies would be greatly increased if supple-
mentary detailed information could be assembled and analyzed concerning the
specific environmental conditions under which each set of the data reported
were developed. Such information, properly organized and analyzed, would per-
mit a more precise identification of specific environmental responses of a
given species or ecotype or variety grown in a given area under specific
pollutant and time-concentration relations. It would also permit a clearer
visualization of comparable climate and soil conditions in North America.
Clonal material (rooted cuttings or grafts) of specific susceptibility
or specific resistance could then be introduced for field tests. The desired
procedure, it is believed, should be to conduct these tests, at least at first,
under environmental conditions similar to those of source areas of the intro-
duced plant material. This may facilitate the verification of plant responses
and plant adaptability and may also make possible the utilization of some of
the USSR plant material under similar ecological conditions in North America.
As the editor of this volume I wish to thank my co-workers in the Air
Pollution Section of the Institute for their valuable assistance. Special
thanks are due to Dr. M. Hoseh, who as the principal translator rendered valu-
able service in connection with many phases of this survey.
M. Y. Nuttonson
Silver Spring, Maryland
September 1969
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CLIMATIC ZONES AND REGIONS* OF THE USSR
OKHOTSK
Zones: I-arctic, II-subarctic, Ill-temperate, IV-subtropical
Regions: 1-polar, 2-Atlantic, 3-East Siberian, 4-Pacific, 5-Atlantic,
6-Siberian, 7-Pacific, 8-Atlantic-arctic, 9-Atlantic-continental forests,
10-continental forests West Siberian, 11-continental forests East Siberian,
12-monsoon forests, 13-Pacific forests, 14-Atlantic-continental steppe,
15-continental steppe West Siberian, 16-mountainous Altay and Sayan,
17-mountainous Northern Caucasus, 18-continental desert Central Asian,
19-mountainous Tyan-Shan, 20-western Tran&caucasian, 21-eastern Transcau-
casian, 22-mountainous Trans Caucasian highlands, 23-desert south-Turanian
24-mountainous Pamir-Alay '
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PURIFICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR OF CONTAMINANTS FROM INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGES
V. V. Oparin
Cmtrtl Ural Sovnarichoi.
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel1
•nost' 1 promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prlrody na Urale. V (Swsrdiovsk,
1966) p. 7-10.
For a long time the means for purification of the atmosphere were of a
narrow compartmentalized nature and were concerned only with a pertial pre**
vention of pollution from specific enterprises. Significant work on an over-
all solution of the problem of purification of atmospheric air in the Ural
industrial areas and cities was carried out in 1960-1965 by the Central Ural
Sovnarkhoz. A number of concrete problems were solved, such as ending air
pollution with the introduction of a more orderly and rational approach to
the operation of purification installations in industrial enterprises.
The most important of the problems were: 1) working out an overall pro-
gram and determining technical guidelines for the protection of the surrounding
air; 2) methods of purification of discharges; 3) preparation of budgetary
analyses; 4) construction of purification installations; 5) the organizing of
a correct and effective utilization of the constructed installations, including
their maintenance; the providing of work crews, and control of their perform-
ance; 6) extraction and utilization of valuable products contained in the
discharges; 7) the securing of communal involvement in the program of protecting
the atmosphere of populated localities.
The program of basic steps toward sanitation of the surrounding air during
1960-1965 included the construction of new and the updating of existing puri-
fication installations, improvement of their utilization, organization of
research in the field of purification of atmosphere from industrial discharges,
and utilization of valuable products in them.
Simultaneously, attention was paid to the fact that in adopting new tech-
nological processes in some branches of industry, no provisions were made for
purification of wastes. In particular, there remain unsolved the problems of
more effective purification of industrial wastes in the production of nickel,
and of the trapping of non-concentrated sulfur dioxide in the exhausts generally,
and specifically in the exhaust gases from roasters, reverberatory furnaces, and
converters in copper smelters, from plants producing synthetic fibers, or syn-
thetic alcohol, from agglomeration plants, and from enterprises of the building
materials industry.
The Sovnarkhoz proposed the construction of 70 purification installations
in 53 enterprises in its economic jurisdiction, with a total budgetary cost of
49.4 million rubles. By 1964 26 installations were built and put in operation,
and 37.1 million rubles were committed, which represents 75.5% of the total
required investment.
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In the overall execution of the purification program throughout the region
the following industries fell short of the goal: building materials, machine
tools, ferrous metallurgy, chemical, light industry, and the food industry.
The non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises have done much to stop air pollu-
tion and to reduce the discharge of valuable products into the air. Of an
estimated cost of 33.5 million rubles they have committed 26.8 million rubles.
The purification of the atmosphere in industrial areas is carried out in
the following principal directions: 1) construction of dust catchers and gas
utilization shops; 2) change in technological processes and the closing of
certain industrial plants; 3) establishment of protective belts of verdant
plantings around industrial plants and populated localities; 4) removal of
places of habitation and various institutions from proximity to sources of
pollution. Some of the measures carried out to-date and their effectiveness
are tabulated. A series of enterprises were dismantled because of their
strong pollution of the atmosphere and the inadvisability of providing them
with devices to purify the exhaust.
The means adopted at the Nizhnie Sergi metallurgical plant are an example
of an overall solution of air purification. This city is located in a pic-
turesque resort area known for a long time and a favorite place of recreation
for the workers in the Urals. However, its natural beauty was marred by the
smoke and soot of the plant. The city, located in a valley, was at all times
shrouded in fog and smoke. The inhabitants complained that particles of coal
and soot from the plant boilers could be found even in the hearts of cabbage
heads grown in a garden. In recent years blast furnaces were discontinued in
the metallurgical plant, which stopped the discharge of large volumes of ore
dust and furnace throat gases. Two boilers in the plant were equipped with
ash catchers which in turn reduced the volume of ash in the waste from the
power station. Two open hearth furnaces and one holding furnace were switched
from generator gas to oil which permitted discontinuance of 9 gas generators
consuming approximately 6000 tons of coal per month.
From 15 January 1964 the plant and the city were joined to the electric
supply system of "Sverdlovenergo,' which permitted the discontinuation and
the placing in reserve of two boilers of the generator station, thereby re-
ducing by more than half the consumption of coal and the pollution of the atmos-
phere by the industrial boiler discharges.
According to the city sanitation and epidemiological station of Nizknie
Sergi, when the ash content of the power station fuel is 11%, the discharge
carries 80% of the ash and 3% remains in the unburned residue. The flyash
from the boilers amounts to 12.1% or 10 tons per day. At the present the plant
is considering switching the open hearth furnaces to oil, which will permit the
use of the power generating station, which at the present time constitutes the
main source of city air pollution to be discontinued. In 1963, with the ini-
tiation of the heat-distributing system SUGRES-Sverdlovsk, 47 house-heating
stations of the city having no ash-catching devices were closed down. All
together the city has a total of approximately 800 boiler stations discharging
120,000 tons of ash and dust annually. Therefore, it is easy to see the
importance of a centralized heat distribution system.
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Measures undertaken to carry out the overall sanitation of the.surrounding air
Enterprise
Adopted Means
Effectiveness
Nishniy Tagil
cement miU
Uralvagonzavod
Kuybyshev plant
Asbofabrika No. 3
(Asbastos plant
no. 3 of the Soyus-
asbestcombine)
Polavskoy cryolite
plant
Pervoural'sk potassium
diohromata plant
Kirograd copper
saaltar
Krasnogorsk generating
plant
Central Ural
copper snslter
Verkh-Meyvinsk
Zavod Vtortsvetoet
(Smelter for second-
ary non-ferrous
Mtals
Eleotrofilters ware Monted
on rotary kilns end ooal
drying druas
Wet acrubbers and a 140 *,
pipe installed behind the
boilers of the power
generating plant
Operation of the boiler unit
changed to blast fumaoe gas
Dust chamber and electro-
filters installed in the
concentration unit
Fluorine-retaining unit
installed in the cryolite
shop
Gas washers installed to
clean the gases free of
hexavalent chromium.
Changes in technology!
open evaporators change to
closed vacuum evaporators
A 140 D. pipe installed for
discharging gases from the
metallurgical unit
Wet scrubbers installed on
13 boilers and a ISO •.
smokestack built
In 1963 started a sulfuric
acid plant. In 1964 in-
stalled the second stage
of the sulfurio acid plant
utilising converter gases
Gases frost water jacketed
furnaces are purified. A
3-step purification with
bug filters was installed
Dost disoharge into the air was reduced free)
600 to 90 tons/day
the total discharge of ash into the air was
reduced from 800 to 100 tons/day. In the
surroundings of the settlessafe the con-
centration of flyash and sulfur dioxide
were reduced to permissible liaits (0,5
mg./m7), when there are nc discharges
from the MIMC (Hishniy Tagil Metallurgical
Combine)
Disoharge of dust reduced
Dust pollution of the air greatly reduced
Concentration of fluorine in the city of
Polevskoy was reduced 3-4 tis»s; however*
it still exceeds the permissible limits
Total disoharge of hexavalent ohrosdnm re-
duced 10-fold and consequently its con-
centration in the air in op to 2 km*
radius was reduced accordingly
Concentration of sulfur dioxide and dust
greatly reduced. Plans are laid for
utilisation of the sulfur dioxide
Utilization of sulfurio anhydride yielded
additional 145,000 tons of sulfuric
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Secondary power resources are used in the central heat supply in other
cities as well. As time goes on, the centralised heat supply will increase
and will include residential areas of such cities as Nizgniy Tagil, Sukhoy
Log, and Kamensk-Ural'skiy.
Extensive work on the purification of air of the city Nizhniy Tagil is
scheduled for 1964-1966. The total cost of the required installations will
be 15 million rubles. The required work and installations include: purifi-
cation of the gases from open hearth furnaces No. 1 and 2, and the installa-
tion of secondary boilers and a biochemical dephenolization unit, the re-
building of the grog-producing shop in the refractory unit, and the providing
of dust catchers, etc. The effluent of the coke byproduct plants in Nizhniy
Tagil contains an appreciable volume of phenols, which, discharged into the
Tagil river, pollute the entire Ob'-Irtysh basin. In solving the problem of
purifying the effluent of phenols, scientists and planners decided to use it
for quenching the coke. Thus, approximately 60% of the waste waters are
vaporized into the atmosphere amounting to 250 rn.-Vhr. and carrying up to 2
tons of phenol per day into the air. Its concentration in the central part
of the city exceeds the allowable limit by almost 30 times. Installation of
a biochemical dephenolization unit permits the air to be freed of phenols.
Completing and putting in operation of an installation for smokeless charging
of coke furnaces in coke byproduct plants is expected to have a great effect
on the purification of air.
It is further foreseen that by bringing in natural gas, gas generating
stations will be discontinued at the 'Uralvagonzavod', "Uralmashzavod1,
'Novotrubnyyzavod', and the Polevskoy cryolite plant, all of which contribute
heavily to air contamination with phenols.
At the present time, in enterprises of ferrous metallurgy, 7 gas gener-
ating stations comprising 76 gas generators were closed down and the heating
of open hearth furnaces was changed to oil.
The construction of the gas pipeline Bukhara-Ural and the arrival of gas
from the North, from the Igrim and Berezovo fields in the Tyumen1 region, will
make possible the change of most boiler installations from solid fuel to gas.
This will greatly reduce the discharge of ash and will be an important step in
the purification of air.
Of great importance in combating air pollution from discharges of ventil-
ating installations are the protective belts of green plants in the region of
the Nizhniy Tagil plant, Polevskoy cryolite plant, the Pervoural'sk dichrornate
plant, and others. Thus, at the Nizhniy Tagil metallugical combine are planned
115 hectares of verdant plantings which are to surround the compound. To pro-
vide the required plants, a 27.5 hectares nursery is being established. In
many factories and mills there were established the so-called "green watches"
and much work has been done in an attempt to make the industrial areas verdant.
The administrative units of sanitation departments and those of basin
inspection as well as the departments of water supply, and the agencies dealing
with protection of water and air resources have carried out significant work of
-------
air purification. In this work representatives of science, engineering, and
technology also have participated.
City councils of workers, area branches of the Society for Protection
of Nature and its regional organizations as well as the general public have
displayed great initiative in problems of green plantings in our cities and
industrial enterprises.
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INDUSTRIAL WASTES OF THE CITIES OF BAKU AND SUM3AIT
AND THEIR EFFECT ON GREEN PLANTINGS.
R. 0. Amirov, A. R. Ismaylov.
H. lUriwff AMrtaydihan lUdioal Inrtltvrt*
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel'
nost' i prorayshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V
(Sverdlovsk, 1966), p. 37-38.
The two industrial centers of the Apsheron Peninsula — Baku and Sumgait —
have a large variety of Industires, specifically oil production and chemical
industry.
The wastes discharged by these industries are large in quantity and
severely contaminate the air, the watershed, and the soils with various
deleterious chemical substances, such as carbon monoxidt, sulfur dioxide,
fluorine compounds, hydrocarbon vapors, chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, and the
like. Systematic investigations of the degree and nature of air pollution
in these industrial areas, which have been conducted since 1948, have estab-
lished that in most cases the above waste products adversely affect green
plantings whose function, at times, is to serve as a means of protection
against smoke and gas. To this should be added that the natural environmental
conditions of the Apsheron Peninsula (intense solar radiation, very low pre-
cipitation, lack of fresh water, greatly destructive northern winds, nature of
the soil, dunes, and so on) are very unfavorable to the development of green
plantings.
Our investigations showed that injury to green plantings depends essentially
on the nature of the waste products. Thus, where the air is predominantly
polluted by irritant gases (sulfur dioxide, chlorine, fluorine compounds, and
the like) dark brown burns appear on the leaves. In addition, partly withered
and some yellowed leaves were found. The growth of green plantings was arrested
and the leaves were curling and dropping off. Externally, the trees and shrubs
appeared as if fire-scorched. We have established that the toxic action of
these pollutants strikes not only the plant parts above the ground but the root
system as well. As the distance from the industrial compound increased, the
frequency and the intensity of these injuries decreased.
Only some of the plants growing here are better adjusted to local condi-
tions and manifest a greater resistance. Of the local ornamental species of
greatest interest are: smooth-leaved elm, maple, pistachio tree, oleaster,
almond, cotoneaster, willowleaf pear, honeysuckle, scarlet firethorn, oriental
bladdersenna, arborescent jasmin, Turkey oak, and swamp oak.
The establishment and development of green plantings are important not
only as a means of combating air pollution but also for the sanitary well-being
of the industrial areas on the Apsheron Peninsula. This is particularly
important because of the opening of the second branch of the Samur-Divichi
Canal and the utilization and widening of the large Dzheyran-Batan watershed,
which will greatly increase the industrialization of this region. In the
-------
establishment of green plantings in industrial zones it is necessary to take
into account the following:
1. Plans of landscaping of industrial enterprises should include green
plantings directly on the territory of the enterprises as well as in areas
surrounding them in a radius of 150-500 m.
2. In view of the strong northern winds in the northern and northeastern
parts of the peninsula, it is imperative to provide for the establishment of
massive green shelter belts (one or two). These protective belts should be
500-1000 m. wide and planted with trees capable of developing large crowns.
Considering the toxicological nature of the pollutants and their tendency
to accumulate in the soil, water, vegetation, and so on, the cultivation of
fruit-bearing trees and bushes within these industrial areas should be avoided.
3. The selection of plants should be made by considering their gas
resistance, their drought resistance, as well as the plants' ability to grow
in solonchak-solonets, clayey, and clayey loam soils characteristic for the
Apsheron Peninsula.
It is advisable to plant the trees and bushes by the trench method, i.e.,
by removing the salt-saturated upper soil horizons and filling the trench with
salt free soil and manure. Because of the high salt content of the soil,
irrigation with waste water (even after their intensive chemical purification)
-------
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ORNAMENTAL HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN
COKE-CHEMICAL WORKS.
V. M. Babkina.
DMproprtroYsk Botuiioal Gardwi of th» Slit* University
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody.. Raatitel'
nost' i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V (Sverdlovsk,
1966) p. 173-176.
The Dnepropetrovsk Botanical Garden has conducted studies on the effect of
smoke vented by the coke-chemical works on various ornamental plants.
Parallel studies were made for six years on the territory of a coke by-
product unit in the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk.
These investigations dealt with 46 species of annual and perennial
herbaceous, ornamental plants. The plants were grown in four plots, which were
similar in their growth potential conditions but differed in the concentration
of noxious gases. The air over three of these plots (A, B, and C) contained
502 ranging in concentration from 0.75 to 4 mg./m. and the fourth, a control
plot, was free of noxious gases.
In the course of these studies the growth of the main stem and of various
organs was determined. Phenological observations and the dynamics of dry
matter accumulation at various stages of plant development were also recorded.
PLOT A. S02 CONTENT - 0.75 mg. per 1 m.3 OF AIR. The 46 investigated
species of plants showed no appreciable change in the rate of growth. The
test plants did not differ in height from the plants grown in the control plot.
All bore fruit and produced good seed.
Smoke pollutants stimulated the growth of the Dahurian lily and of the
whiterim camomile. The latter, for example, developed so well that it annually
produces a heavy self-seeded crop, which invades the adjacent areas.
Only few species were visibly thwarted by small concentrations of smoke
pollutants. Plants so affected were summer phlox (See Drawing) and hybrid
peonies. Phlox was severely damaged, its pheno-phases were shifted, its
inflorescence was poorly developed, producing frequently deformed flowers, and
its seed was of low quality (Table 1).
PLOT B. S02 CONTENT - 2 mg. per 1 m.3 OF AIR. Of the 46 tested plants,
25 reacted slightly to the increased concentration of smoke pollutants. These
were whiterim camomile, Dahurian lily, bigflower coreopsis, purselane, and other
plants; they retained the rate of growth specific to them as well as the onset
and the development of phenophases, and produced high quality seed.
However, 15 species of plants showed a higher sensitivity to an increased
-------
Suner flux on plots with various sulfur dioxide concantraticosi
, 2
- 0.75 and b - 2.00 «./»
concentration of smoke pollutants. These included Chinese pink, great bell-
flower, Aztec marigold, and others. Thwarted growth processes are noted a
few days after emergence, at which time the leaves begin to wither.
Some of the species had two periods in which the growth processes were
most active. The first burst of growth occurred in May-June and the second in
August-September. The latter continued to the end of the growing period. Such
uneven rate of growth was caused not only by smoke pollutants, but also by
weather conditions, i.e., by high temperature.
Thwarted growth processes caused changes in plant development and shifted
the onset of phenophases. The vegetative growth was extended in the marigolds
by 15 days, in Chinese pink by 10 days; the blooming of Drummond phlox lasted
79 days, and of marigold, 41 days.
There was a considerable difference between experimental and control plants
in the number of flower buds and developed flowers. In the control plants 80-
90% of the buds developed into flowers; in the experimental plants 30-40% of the
buds withered prior to flowering, thereby shortening the period of mass flowering.
The flowers of the experimental plants were often few, small, and at times
deformed. If the period from vegetative phase to blooming in the experimental
plants was extended, then the period between flowering and seed ripening was
-------
shortened by 5-20 days at the expense of the flowering time. An increase in
the concentration of smoke pollutants lowered the absolute weight of seed but
did not affect their germination and the rate of development of the sprouts.
Five of the 46 plants in this plot either were dwarfed or lost their
ornamental appearance. These five plants included the annual stock, dahlias,
peonies, lodgepole lupine, and summer phlox. The experimental stock plant
developed a luxuriant growth without signs of damage by the smoke pollutants;
however, it did not reproduce itself and remained in a vegetative state to the
end of the season. In some years, not over 10% of the plants flowered. Even
so, the inflorescence was small and the flowers deformed and of poor color
quality. Although the vegetative growth of the stock was normal, it lost its
ornamental value.
Other plants in this group, dahlias and lupines, were severely damaged
in some period of their growth by the industrial pollutants, and produced few
and frequently deformed flowers.
The increased concentration of smoke pollutants greatly affects the
important life processes of many plant species. Nevertheless, over 50% of
the tested species react only slightly to increased concentrations of 802.
Table 1
Growth and development o^ Pb_l<">v
Index
Average height of plant, cm.
June
July
August
Average number of shoots on one plant
June
July
August
^ length )
Leaf width , cm.
Withered leaves, %
June
July
August
Average number of inflorescences
on one plant
Average size of inflorescence, cm.
Duration of blooming, days
Duration of vegetative period, days
nairt ml nf-fl on )
Control
15.6
40.2
43.2
10.0
29.1
38.6
6.0
3.1
0
5
10
35
7.6
116
164
/arious pl<
A
13.1
35.6
36.7
9.6
30.3
31.9
5.1
2.0
0
25
30
27
5.3
76
134
>ts.
B
11.1
25.1
25.1
8.9
43.6
43.6
3.0
1.5
10
40
60
16
4.1
43
92
C
4.2
9.2
Wither
1.8
4.7
-
1.5
1.0
30
80
100
-
-
-
66
-------
PLOT C. S02 CONTENT - 4 mg. per 1 m.3 OF AIR. Of the 46 species tested
25 perished during the development of the cotyledons or of the first true
leaves. The plants germinated well but after several days burns appeared on
the cotyledons. The burns spread rapidly over the cotyledons, then to the
leaves, after which the plant soon withered. Such was the case with rocket
candytuft, Skinner columbine, garden balsam, and other plants.
The second group of 19 species were also strongly thwarted but the growth
processes were not interrupted. Indeed, after some time the plants visibly
revived and developed new shoots and leaves.
Compared with the control, the development phases of the experimental
plants shifted. In most species the phase of vegetative growth was extended,
and the duration of blooming, as well as of the entire growth period was
shortened. Thus, the vegetative period of marigolds was extended by 50 days,
of snapdragons, by 35 days, and the German iris bloomed only in the 3rd year
after transplantation instead of in the 1st year as it usually does. The
blooming period of experimental plants when compared with controls was shorten-
ed for the common zinnias 4 times, for marigolds 3.2 times, for iris 2 times,
and so on.
The plants produced numerous small inflorescences and flowers. Only
the first bud developed and the seed were not filled out. Although in some
of the species the seed germinated well, the plants that they produced were
weak.
Accumulation of dry matter is & reliable indicator of the state of plants.
The control plants and those grown on plot A accumulated more dry matter in a
given period of time than the same plants grown in plot B and, particularly, in
plot C (Table 2).
Table 2
Accumulation of dry matter in Zinnia elegans zacq in the several
plots. Average per one plant, mg. Denominator-percent of control
Phenophase
Vegetative
Budding
Blooming
Plant parts
Above ground
Roots
Above ground
Roots
Above ground
Roots
Control
267.1
100
39.8
100
1306.2
100
601.2
100
24362.0
100
3573.0
100
A
246.1
92.1
37.2
92.2
1290.3
98.7
571.0
94.8
23007.3
93.4
3020.2
84.5
B
167.2
62.5
19.4
47.0
930.6
71.2
403.2
67.0
15290.0
62.7
1420.7
39.8
C
22.2
8.9
3.2
7.0
412.3
31.5
79.9
13.3
2143.0
8.7
271.3
8.1
-------
Based on the results obtained in this study, the following ornamental
plants are recommended for planting in areas in which the concentration of
802 *8 2 mg./cm.3 : hybrid aster, India canna, German camomile, showy camo-
mile, bigf lower coreopsis, Portola hybrid, hybrid gladiolus, garden iris,
Dahurian lily, beardlip penstemon, fringed rudbeckia, Canadian goldenrod,
hollyhock, Skinner columbine, Mexican floss flower, sweet alyssum, snap-
dragon, common feather cockscomb, plains coreopsis, summer cypress, Grecian
stock, common purslane, purple scabious, and prostrate marigold. Under
these conditions, 16 other species can also be planted.
Areas having an SO2 concentration of 4 mg./m. should be planted with
Mexican floss flower and plains coreopsis. Some other species that may be
tested in such areas include: fruticose aster, hybrid aster, India canna
camomiles, gaillardia, gladioli, Dahurian lily, coneflower, Canadian golden-
rod, common purslane, scabious, prostrate marigold, sweet alyssum, and summer
cypress.
-------
THE EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL GAS ON THE GROWTH
OF TREES AND SHRUBS
V. M. Ryabinin
Sholwlkovo Ponst Strvio* of tht MOMOW Oblut*
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Vsesoyuznoe botan. obschestuo. Botan. Zhurnal, Tom XLVII,
3, Mart, (Moskva, 1962) p. 412-416.
Industrial gases cause a disturbance of the physiological and biochemical
processes of plants: repression of photosynthesis and transpiration, increase
of the respiratory coefficient, a metabolic breakdown of the whole tissue, de-
struction of chlorophyl and vitamin C, and decrease of protein content. The
industrial gases also cause a series of other pathological phenomena.
All of these disturbances must undoubtedly be reflected in the growth,
development, and viability of plants.
In order to study the growth and viability of certain arboreal and frut-
escent species under conditions of smoke pollution, we laid out in the summer
of 1959 three experimental plots in the Shchelkovo Forest of the Moscow district.
These plots were located at various distances from the city of Shchelkovo. The
experimental plots were established in the Shchelkovo Forest mainly because it
is possible there to observe on a mass scale the loses sustained by coniferous
species as a result of the presence of a high concentration of sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen chloride.
The Erisman Scientific Research Institute of Sanitation and Hygiene dem-
onstrated that the air in the vicinity of Shchelkovo contains the following
quantities of harmful ingredients (Table 1).
Table 1
Gaseous components of the atmosphere near the city of Shchelkovo
Distance in meters
and direction from
the source of the
pollution
s*
750
S
1000
Concentration of gases (in mg.) per mj of air
sulfur
dioxide
1.00
0.70
nitrogen
oxides
0.07
0.09
hydrogen
chloride
0.10
0.60
hydrogen
sulfide
0.10
0.25
* S = south
Katz wrote in 1941 that the exposure of plants to concentrations of sulfur
dioxide greater than 0.4 mg. per cubic meter of air proved harmful to leaves in
-------
the period of growth, when physiological activity is observed to be highest and
gas absorption reaches the maximum.
In our particular case, even at a distance of one kilometer from the Shchel-
kovo chemical plant, one cubic meter of atmospheric air contains 0.7 rag. of
sulfur dioxide, which is almost twice the tolerable concentration (the surpassing
of which results in injury to and destruction of plants). However, the degree of
injury inflicted upon plants by industrial gases depends not only upon the con-
centration of these gases, but upon the duration of their activity on the plants.
It is necessary to note that of all the gases emitted by the Shchelkovo
chemical plant the most harmful is sulfur dioxide by virtue of its great stabil-
ity, high toxicity, and wide diffusion. Nitrogen oxides and hydrogen sulfide
are easily neutralized.
The three control plots established in the Malakhov Forest were all subject
to identical local growing conditions. There were no industrial enterprises near
the control plots.
I
The test and control plots were established within plantings of pines and
spruces which were either of intermediate age or approaching maturity, with a
heavy undergrowth and regrowth of various arboreal and frutescent species. Th«i
taxonomic characteristics of the experimental and control plots are given in
Table 2.
The experimental and control plots were divided into plantings undisturbed
by cuttings; void of traces of windfalls, windbreaks, and mechanical injuries;
and uncontaminated by butt-rot fungus, Fomitopsis annosa or Eqmjes, annosus. and
armillaria, Armillaria me lea. The plots were located in places where there was
no cattle grazing or hay mowing being conducted, i.e., in areas with an undis-
turbed phytocenosic environment.
The testing of the butt-rot fungus and armillaria contamination was con-
ducted on standard trees cut from the number of shrinking pines and spruce. In
each experimental plot four test trees were cut and analyzed. In the roots of
the test trees there was no appearance of mycelia; there was a lack of both
peripheral and central rot in the stump cuts.
Thus, fungus diseases, mechanical injuries, and cuttings through the plant-
ings due to construction are not the causes of shrinking in the coniferous
species nor of the reduction in growth of the deciduous species and brushwood.
The shrinkage and growth reduction also does not result from cattle pasturage or
hay cutting and soil compaction.
Consequently, the assumption remains that the cause of damage to the trees
and brushwood is the industrial gases emitted by the Shchelkovo chemical plant.
The evidence of damage to trees and brushwood by industrial gas can be seen
in the diseased needles and leaves and in the general deterioration of trees.
In all of the experimental plots near Shchelkovo, the pines and spruces, of
from 50-60 years of age, suffer heavily: the crown dries and becomes defoliated.
-------
Table 2
Taxooooic characteristics of the experimental and control pleats
Plot
no.
Forest
Sec-
tion
Dis-
tance
(kite)
and
direc-
tion
frag
pollu-
tion
source
Cooposi-
tion of
the
plant-
ing
Average
age
(years)
Average
diaaeter
(in CB.)
Average
height
(in
•eters)
Bonitet
(soil
site
index)
Full-
ness
Forest
Type
Seed-
line
Growth
Under-
growth
Crowd
Cover
Soil
Shchelkovo
53
BO. I
S
2.5
10 pines
50
25.2
16.7
II
0.4
Piae,
spruce
Con-
i twl,
' no. 1
Halakhov
10 pines
50
27.2
15.5
0.4
Sane
above
Pine.
Doonhorn
gove
Shchelkovo
S
3.0
It
II:
Is
I:
n
0.7
Pine,
her
ices
,0xrch
berry
tle-
Cj^^k—WMV
pwner^Tt
vhortleU
BSBte
fern
Con-
trol
no* 2
•alakhov
27
It
IS*
lit
I:
H:
It
It
lit
n
0.7
Sane
above
Pine
leberry,
Sue
Experi-
mental
no. 3
Shchelkovo
56
S
6.0
60
31.6
20.6
0.5
aspen
Pine
iberry,
tern.
Con-
trol
09. 9
6 spruces.
4 Hnes, '
* birch
80
29.4
25.6
0.7
Saae
above
-------
The pine needles change from dark green to • lifeless gray, become sickly,
decrease in size, and adhere to branches of pints for 2 instead of 4 years
and to those of spruce for 3 to 4 years, instead of 7 years under normal
conditions. As a result of the decline in the size of needles and the re-
duction of their life span, the total assimilating surface of the tree is
reduced, which, in turn, causes a reduction in the concentration of organic
matter.
The life span of regrown pine and spruce needles is also cut in half, as
is the case with the adult specimens. The needles of the young pines and
spruces are greener than those of the adult trees. This evidently is explained
by the greater stability of chlorophyl in the needles of the young trees.
The loss of the bright-green needles, the reduction of their life span,
the appearance of a dark brown stain on the leaves, and the browning of the
leaf tips are, as writes N. P. Krasinskiy (1937), symptoms of disease caused
by gas emissions from industrial plants. Therefore, tree damage in our ex-
perimental plots may be explained only by the action of these gases.
Industrial gases act directly only upon leaves and needles. In the branches
and root system they do not exhibit a direct influence. It should be noticed,
however, that in i;rees and shrubs injured by the effects of industrial gases, the
growth of both the major and secondary branches is decreased, and the total
weight of the physiologically active roots is lower by far than in trees with a
normal environment. The difference in root weight between weakened and healthy
trees is most noticeable in spruce and pine.
The general weight reduction of roots and the weakening of growth are
explained by the decrease of total assimilating surface of trees and shrubs
as a result of the reduction of needle and leaf size; they are also explained
by the reduction of the life span of the needles.
In the control plots, on the other hand, there was no visible injury to
the trees and brush. Coniferous needle lifetime was normal, their color was
dark green, and the tips did not turn brown. The pine and spruce crowns did
not defoliate and there was no drying of the tops.
The purpose of our studies was also to investigate the effect of industrial
gases on the growth of several forest-forming trees and shrubs in the Podmoskovian
district. Towards this goal, the length increment of the main shoot of seedlings
of pines and spruces was measured during the years 1957, 1958, and 1959. The
length increment of deciduous species and brushwoods was measured for 1959 only.
The linear measurement of length growth was made with an accuracy of up to 0.1 cm.
In all of the plots the increment of 100 specimens of each species was
measured. In the case in which some species in the plot were represented by less
than 100 specimens, only those available were measured. However, never was the
quantity of data specimens less than ten.
The layout of the experimental and control plots, their evaluation and
description were conducted in July through August of 1959, but increment measure-
-------
merits were made at the end of the growth period, in September of that year, before
Leaf fall.
The results of the measurements of the length of increment are given in
Tables 3 and 4.
Table 3
The effect of industrial gases on the growth of coniferous species
Distance (in
km. ) and
direction
from pollu-
tion source
S
2.5
S
3.0
S
6.0
Species
Pine
Spruce
Pine
Spruce
Spruce
Growth in length (in cm.) under conditions of
smoke pollution and in its absence
1957
Experi-
mental
plot
14.2
15.5
11.5
12.5
5.9
Control
21.4
17.0
19.0
13.4
9.7
1958
Experi-
mental
plot
15.6
17.5
13.0
9.0
10.1
Control
31.1
20.0
21.0
10.5
8.2
1959
Experi-
mental
plot
13.2
12.6
12.1
9.4
11.0
Control
30.0
21.0
18.2
17.0
12.2
Table 4
The effect of industrial gases on the growth of deciduous trees and shrubs
Species
Oak
Birch
Aspen
Mountain Ash
Buckthorn
Growth of primary branches in length (in cm.)
2.5 km.
from
pollution
source
-
58.8
38.1
17.0
17.8
Control
-
45.6
82.0
24.0
31.8
3 km.
from
pollu-
tion
source
20.3
64.8
34.0
24.1
Control
45.0
68.4
55.7
28.5
6.0 km.
from
pollution
source
7.0
48.7
27.6
19.3
10.1
Control
12.5
58.0
50.2
19.8
18.2
-------
Tables 3 and 4 make clear that industrial gases inhibit growth in all of
the species we measured, but in varying degrees. In the coniferous the incre-
ment in pines is sharply decreased; in the deciduous species, the increment in
aspens is weakened. The gases affect the increment of birches the least.
At a distance of 6 km. from Shchelkovo the difference in increment of
control and experimental trees is less sharply expressed. This, of course,
is logical: the greater the distance from the source of pollution, the lower
the concentration of harmful gases in the atmosphere.
On the basis of these studies that have been conducted, it is possible to
draw the following conclusions: 1) under the influence of industrial gases
there is a decrease in the size of needles and leaves; 2) the life span of
needles is half what it would normally be; 3) as a result of the decrease in
needle and leaf size and the reduction in the life span of needles, the assim-
ilating surface of the trees and shrubs is sharply decreased; 4) the weakening
of growth under the influence of industrial gases is observed in both the coni-
ferous and deciduous species; the cause of the weakening growth is the re-
pression of photosynthesis due to the reduction of assimilating surface; 5)
with an increase in distance from the pollution source, the difference in growth
between the trees existing under pollution conditions and those existing in the
absence of such conditions gradually disappears.
Literature
Ershov, M. F. Vliyanie pyli na rost rasteniy. Bot. zhurn., 6. -- (1959).
Krasinskiy, N. P. Ozelenenie promploschadok dymoustoychivym assortimentom
(1937). (No other data given).
Katz, M. Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere and its relation to plant life.
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 41, 11:2450 (1941).
Middleton, J. T., J. B. Kendrick, and E. F. Darley. Air pollution injury to
crops. California Agr., 7, 11:11-12 (1953).
Taylor, 0. C., E. A. Cardiff, J. D. Mergerau, and J. T. Middleton. Smoke
reduces seedling growth. California Agr., 11, 3:9 (1957).
Todd, G. W. and M. I. Garber. Some effects of air pollutants on the growth
and productivity of plants. Bot. Gaz., 120, 2 (1958).
-------
EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS ON THE VEGETATION OF BASHKIR A.S.S.R.
E. V. Kucherov and B. E. Fedorako
Coad.Mioo on Nature Promotion, Bashkir Branch of ttw U.S.S.R. Ao«d«ay of Sci»no»§
From Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ural. Filial. Ural. Cos. Univ. im. A. M. Gor'kogo.
Okhrana prirody na Urale. (Sverdlovsk), 4:163-168, 1964.
Based on its abundant natural resources the Bashkir A.S.S.Ro has developed
a large petroleum industry as well as a petroleum refining and chemical industry.
In the next decade, the Bashkir Republic will become one of the large industrial
centers of the U.S.S.R. Petroleum chemistry, machine building, non-ferrous and
ferrous metallurgy will be further developed. In this connection, the problems
of protection of atmospheric air, which is still often polluted by industrial
discharges, are of paramount importance. Considerable effort should also be
directed toward the protection of vegetation, which facilitates purification
of air.
The program formulated by the K.P.S.S. envisions measures for greater
improvement of living conditions in cities and other inhabited areas. These
contemplated measures include: verdant plantings, water supply, and a vigorous
fight against air, soil and water pollution. At present, many industrial enter-
prises, and particularly oil refineries, chemical, metallurgical and machine-
building plants include units continuously venting gases noxious to vegetation.
The chemical composition of the smoke gases varies in substance and, in most
cases, these gases consist of complex mixtures of varying concentration. Thus,
the refinery exhausts usually carry saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons,
carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, and others. The composition
of the waste gases from the chemical industry is even more complex.
Dust particles, soot and smoke-black, discharged by some industries, are
also injurious to the growth and development of plants. The lower layers of
air, i.e., the zone where arboreal and herbaceous plants develop, usually con-
tain the largest number and highest concentration of these pollutants.
Most plants, and particularly conifers, are very sensitive to gas pollution
of air, which causes arrested growth and changes the color of foliage and needles.
Even at small concentrations of gases, the edges of leaves curl, and foliage
yellows, while at higher concentrations burns appear, and the leaves turn brown
and wilt. This in turn causes premature, partial, and even complete defoliation.
Yu. Z. Kulagin observed in 1961 that larches located near the Ufa refinery changed
their needles twice in one growing season and finally withered. It should also be
noted that gases in high concentrations burn and destroy the foliage of all ar-
boreal species, without exception, including those usually considered gas-
resistant. At high gas concentrations herbaceous plants also yellow and wilt.
In the literature cases are quoted where vegetation was affected at a
distance of 30 and even 100 km. (U.S.A.) from the source of industrial pollution.
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In Bashkiria, the adverse effect of smoke pollution on arboreal vegetation can be
observed only in the immediate vicinity of some enterprises in Ufa, as well as in
Beloretsk and Sterlitamak. Within the city limits of Ufa, the heaviest smoke
pollution is found in the Ordzhonikidze section. In some parks of this district
can be observed the injurious effect of smoke on trees. Thus, in the Pobeda
Park, on a three-hectare plot of 96-year-old oak more than 20% of the trees had
withered tops.
The proximity of a refinery affects plant development in the Pushkin Park.
Here, a seven-hectare stand of 50-year-old oak and linden had more than 20% of
top-dry trunks. An additional factor, adversely affecting tree growth, is a
stack belching chemical waste. In the fall of 1950, 6-year-old box elder was
set out on the Ul'yanov street in the vicinity of factories. The leaves in the
box elder crowns curl up every year because of smoke pollution. In many places,
the leaves drop during the summer. Up to 50% of the set-out trees perished
because of the smoke. The remainder are stunted and their tops dried up.
Of greatest interest are data concerning the growth of various arboreal
species in the verdant plantings on the grounds of the Ufa refinery. Here, in
1950 were set out: balsam poplar, little leaf linden, red ash, and box elder.
In addition, a large assortment of ornamental shrubs was planted: European
mountain ash, Tartar maple, Tartar honeysuckle, willow leaf spirea, white mul-
berry, hedge cotoneaster, hollygrape mahonia, European red elder, and Siberian
pea shrub or pea tree. These plantings were made in predominantly heavy loam.
Red ash showed a remarkably high gas resistance under these conditions, and
though its leaves curl, it is able to give an annual height increment. Nor were
any dead plants found. The leaves of the little leaf linden also yellowed and
curled. The leaves of the European white birch yellowed prematurely. It was
noticed that the birch grew better when a building stood between it and the
source of pollution. A hybrid Berezinskiy poplar also showed some gas resistance;
its leaves did not curl and only slightly yellowed, even though some dropped.
Balsam poplar is more damaged under the same conditions. Its leaves not
only became yellow, but also turned brown and their premature dropping occurs
more frequently. In the immediate vicinity of industrial establishments where
there are benzine vaporizing puddles on the ground, specific odors, and low air
humidity, only 50-607» of box elder, Chinese elm, and balsam poplar survived,
notwithstanding periodic hoeing and good maintenance practices.
The shrubs that survived the test proved quite gas-resistant, although the
leaves of the mountain ash curled and those of Siberian pea shrub yellowed. The
leaves of most shrubs, however, dropped before their time, in addition to already
losing up to 20% of their leaves in summer.
Although fruit and berry species are relatively gas-resistant, an orchard
consisting of 80 apple trees and 200 black current shrubs, located in the center
of the refinery grounds, perished.
Besides industrial pollution, plants are also affected by pollutants
resulting from our way of life, as for example from air pollution by the use of
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faulty automobiles, incapable of completely burning their fuel.
In the green plantings of the city of Ufa there were many young and old
spruce trees. These trees grew up in places protected by buildings, on fertile
loamy soil, adequately provided with water. The 120-year-old spruce were of
mighty growth and covered by thick, dark green needles. They were mostly the
green cone variety of the Siberian spruce transplanted while young from the
nearby forest. The spruce trees described here were healthy and bore a normal
abundant fruit. On the spruce trees, growing across from the Lunacharskiy Park,
could be seen passing flocks of crossbills.
However, from the time the automobile traffic in the city increased con-
siderably and along with it, exhaust gases of ethylated fuel polluted the air.
The spruce trees started drying up, first along the main traffic arteries, then
in areas more distant, and finally, even in outlying city districts. First, the
needles lost their deep green color and turned light green. In the next stage
of the tree poisoning by polluted air, yellow hues were observed to spread
gradually over the light-green background. Along with color change, the needle
cover thinned and bare tops appeared. Finally, there began a simultaneous wither-
ing of a great many spruce trees, starting with the oldest specimens.
The young trees, 20-30 years old, held their own for some time. However,
within 5 to 6 years after the withering of the old trees, they too succumbed.
Death of the trees, which started in the most gas-polluted sections, gradually
spread, with the increase of air pollution, to the city outskirts. Spruce on
the upwind side'of the city survived longer, primarily in sections where fresh
air was coming in from the outside, e.g., along Tukaev Street. They lasted
longest in the sections of Old Ufa where automobile traffic was still sparse,
but as traffic penetrated into the section, the spruce trees perished there
too. In the suburbs, where the air is pure, spruce of the same age or even
older, thrive even now (in the village, Milovka, and along the Oktyabr'skaya
Revolutsiya Creek).
Pine was used to a lesser extent than spruce in green plantings in the city
of Ufa. Observations have shown that the pine was somewhat more resistant to
air pollution than spruce. A cluster of pines survive to date in the Matrosov
and Salavat Parks.
Observations of the growth and development of various species in Ufa showed
that under conditions of prolonged gas pollution of low concentration, all
deciduous trees are more resistant than conifers, which retain their needles for
several years (pine, spruce, and fir). This is explained (1) by the cumulative
action of substances that penetrate over a period of years from the polluted air
into the needles, and (2) by a slower recovery of the needles. The deciduous
species are partly protected by annual foliage changes from the cumulative effect,
while the conifers replace only 15-30% of their needles, depending on the species
and conditions. Within any one species, under identical conditions, younger trees
as a rule, are more gas-resistant than older ones. At the same time, under the
same gas concentration, young leaves, which are still in the growing stage, are
more damaged than leaves already formed.
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Berezinskiy hybrid poplar, balsam poplar, and black poplar are relatively
gas-resistant. The hedgerow rose shrub is relatively gas-resistant too. Com-
paratively little damage from gas is sustained by elm, linden, and apple trees
as well as by the shrubs: Tartar honeysuckle, mock orange, black currant,
raspberry, snowberry, lilac, and Siberian pea shrub.
European white birch, green ash, and mountain ash are of medium resistance
to gas pollution. Box elder, Turkestan elm (also suffering from frost), Siber-
ian larch, pine, spruce and fir are severely damaged, their growth stunted,
and their lifespan shortened. The above given gas-resistance rating is only
preliminary because the chemical composition of gases, their concentration and
their physiological effect are quite different. Further study is needed in thesa
areas.
It is recommended that protective plantings be established around industrial
enterprises, in open areas between them, and directly on their grounds. These
plantings should consist of thick, multi-stage tree and shrub plantings of
poplar, linden, apple, hedgerow rose, Siberian pea shrub, Tartar honeysuckle,
raspberry, and black currant. Such plantings will materially change the gas
composition of air for the better.
However, the basic task in air pollution control, namely, the installation
of smoke purifiers, automation of production, and maintenance of high degree
of hermetization throughout the industrial processes to prevent unnecessary
losses resulting from gas leaks into the atmosphere must not be forgotten. Thesa
measures will contribute materially to the improvement of public health as well
as to the protection of forests, and will ultimately bring economic benefits.
Faulty operation of purifiers in oil refineries and sloppy work at oil
wells result in big waste of valuable raw material and pollution of soil and
rivers. The improper installation of pipeline through the River Sim resulted
in waste of oil into the river, water pollution damage, and even partial
destruction of aquatic and littoral vegetation. Along the shores, stunted
trees with the base of their trunks completely oil smeared can frequently be
observed. In many oil-polluted creeks of Bashkiria, aquatic vegetation is
severely stunted. Thus, in the Oktiabr1skaya Revolutsiya backwater of the Belaya
River in Ufa, where steamboats, barges, and other river craft tie up, there was
once thriving aquatic vegetation. In the littoral zone near the shore grew
beautiful water lilies and the delicate pink flowers of water lady's-thumb.
Because of severe pollution of the water by oil and other petroleum products,
this aquatic vegetation is confined to the far reaches of the backwater,
beyond the village of Milovka. Due to the action of oil, the leaves of the
yellow and white water lily died. Curly pondweed is particularly severely
affected. The delicate leaves of this plant submerged in the polluted water turn
yellow, then become brown and perish. The aquatic plants, such as duckweed,
disappear rapidly. Most sensitive to oil pollution is star duckweed which
perishes sooner than the common duckweed. The abundant aquatic vegetation in
the Belaya River inlet near Blagoveshchensk vanished completely.
These examples show that pollution of air and water by industrial waste
strongly affect terrestial as well as aquatic vegetation. It is imperative to
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undertake resolute measures for combatting the pollution of air, water and soil,
in order to completely eliminate in the near future the adverse effects of
industrial pollutants.
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MEASURES TO ELIMINATE ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
FROM "VTORTSVETMET" MILLS.
I. S. Rozenshteyn and K. N. Gorbunova.
Sverdlovsk Regional Sanitation and Epideaiological Station.
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel1
nost" i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V (Sverdlovsk,
1966) p. 59.
The settlements in the area where the lead-babbitt shops of the "Vtor-
tsvetmet" mills are located suffer from heavy air pollution by lead oxides
discharged in the gases from the water-cooled furnaces and from the shop ven-
tilation system.
According to the data of the Sverdlovsk Regional Sanitation and Epid«»io-
logical Station the average daily concentration of lead in some cases at a
distance of 200 m. was 0.085 mg./m.3 and at 1000 m. 0.026 mg./m.3, iv e., 122
and 38 times the permissible limit for air in settled areas.1
To reduce the discharge of lead and to purify the exhaust gases from th«
water-cooled furnaces, a complex was installed comprising: a scrubber-cooler,
a compound cyclone, and a bag filter of the type RFG-VI operating at 99%
efficiency.
Following purification, the gases are discharged through an 80 m. stack.
Total cost of the gas purification installation was 250.000 rubles.
A check of the air pollution showed that the average daily concentration
of lead in the atmosphere beyond the 500 m. sanitation protective zone of green
plants was lowered to 0.00035 mg./m.3 and less, i. e., does not exceed the
permissible limit.
Therefore, the indicated purifying structures gave good results. However,
in a zone of 350 m. from the lead-babbitt shop the average daily concentration
of lead was 0.0013 mg./m.3, i.e., slightly higher than the permissible limit.
This was caused by the lead discharge in the ventilation and aeration air from
the shops. Therefore, to improve the sanitation of the air in the settlement
the discharge from the ventilators of lead-babbitt shops should be first puri-
fied in bag filters and then passed through an 80 m. stack.
In addition, to protect the population from the injurious effect of in-
dustrial discharges, it is necessary to include in the sanitation plans as a
protective zone a belt of green planting, and to remove the construction of
new housing farther away from the sources of pollution.
N. P. Tomson. Predel'no-dopustimye kontsentratsii svintsa v vozdukhe
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EFFECT OF PLANTINGS ON THE SANITARY AND HYGIENIC
CONDITIONS OF DENSELY POPULATED SETTLEMENTS
Yu. G. Novoderzhkina, L. A. Andrianova, and G. G. Zheldakova.
K. D. Paafilov Rtsaaroh Institute of the Academy of Municipal Econo«y, Rostov.
From Akad.Nauk SSSR. Ural.Filial. Komis.po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel'nost1
i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V (Sverdlovskj 1966)
p. 87-89.
In inhabited localities the increased pollution of air by gases, vapors,
and aerosols is a corollary to the rapid development of industry and automo-
tive transport. Near industrial enterprises and streets with heavy traffic
of transport, such pollution is particularly high and exceeds the allowable
concentration many times.
One of the most effective methods for combating air pollution is plant-
ing of greenery. At the Rostov Research Institute of the Academy of Municipal
Economy in the MKKh of the RSFSR studies were made of the effect of different
types of plantings in relation to large apartment buildings variously situated.
Air samples were taken by the aspiration method and analyzed for their content
of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and dust. This study showed that the best
living conditions are in areas of widely spaced buildings, well provided with
greenery, and separated from the traffic of the street by an 8 m. wide green
strip. In such sections, the concentration of dust in July-August did not
exceed 0.4-0.5 mg./m.3, and of carbon monoxide 0.6 mg./m.3. Residential blocks
in the old central part of the city are in worse condition. These sections
are densely built up, small in area, and have very little greenery. In these
sections the concentration of dust is 2-3 times, and the concentration of
carbon monoxide, 4-5 times that of the maximum permissible concentration.
The worst conditions were encountered in areas of widely spaced apartment
buildings like the one first mentioned but having no green plantings (new
buildings). The dust and the gases from the traffic carrying streets penetrate
deep into the block, accumulate there, and create dust and gas pollution of
the air, frequently worse than on the streets.
Studies showed that in the streets the dust content of the air exceeds
2-10 times and the carbon monoxide content, 2-5 times the permissible concen-
tration. In all the residential sections studied the concentration of sulfur
dioxide in the air did not exceed 0.1 mg./m.3, i.e., was below the permissible
limit. The smallest concentration of microorganisms was found in the first-
described residential type (480 in 1m.3 of air). In the traffic bearing part
of the street their concentration was 3-8 or more times heavier.
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The sanitary and hygienic conditions in a residential area are influ-
enced not only by air pollution but depend on a variety of circumstances,
such as temperature of the air and humidity, wind conditions, and the degree
of solar radiation.
Observations made in Rostov/on Don in 1963 have clearly demonstrated
the important effect of inner block plantings on the microclimate of the
adjacent areas and on the creation of more favorable conditions of tempera-
ture, humidity, and wind as well as of better insolation conditions.
The observations were made in the same residential sections of the city
in which air pollution was studied. The relative humidity of the air in the
widely spaced and lavishly planted sections was 15-24% higher than in a simi-
larly built section that was bare of greenery. The relative humidity of the
air in the densely built-up section that was well provided with greenery
throughout its area was 6% higher than a similarly built-up section devoid
of green plantings.
In all the variously built residential sections having green plantings,
the temperatures at the hottest time of day were 3°C. lower than in sections
devoid of greenery.
Massive inner block plantings have a beneficial effect on the micro-
climate of the adjacent open spaces. The temperature curves in a heavily
planted area and at a distance of 75 m. from it are analogous. Wind attains
its highest velocity in a widely spaced section devoid of greenery. In those
sections where buildings were widely spaced and well provided with greenery,
the wind velocity decreased from the edge of plantings to their center, from
4 to 1 m./sec. at a distance of 100 m. In sections of closely spaced build-
ings, the wind velocity near the buildings was lower than in the adjacent
open areas. However, within the grounds the wind velocity increased 1-5
times because of eddying.
In the southern regions of the country the decisive factor influencing
the microclimate of a residential area is the short-wave solar radiation.
Excess of direct solar radiation affects negatively the well-being of the
inhabitants, and therefore devising means for reducing the level of solar
radiation is of particular importance.
Actinometric observations were made with the aim of (1) determining the
effect of green plantings on isolation of a residential section; (2) determin-
ing the radiation reflected from vertical surfaces as affected by the color of
the latter and by the distance from them; and (3) determining the radiation
reflected from horizontal surfaces as they are affected by the nature of the
ground cover of the neighborhood.
Trees selected for these experiments were the ones widely distributed
throughout Rostov/on Don: Eastern poplar, black locust, green ash, apricot,
honey locust, Norway maple, horse chestnut, American linden, and others.
Depending on the density and shape of their crowns, the trees variously
affected direct solar radiation. Thus, in the hottest time of day, under an
American linden at a height of 0.5 m. from its active surface, direct radia-
-------
tion is 100 times less and under a horse chestnut, only 55 times less than
in an open space. Equally affected is the total radiation. A study of
solar radiation under the crown of the other species showed that the spheri-
cal shape of the crown of the Norway maple reduced direct radiation 44 times,
Eastern poplar 33 times, the apricot and ash 26 times, and the black locust
22 times.
In the southern cities the dominant role in establishing the heat bal-
ance is the radiation reflected from horizontal and vertical surfaces (walls
of buildings, sidewalk pavement, street pavement, and other paved surfaces).
To determine reflected radiation variously painted and vine-covered buildings
were chosen. Reflected radiation decreased 1.2 times with the distance from
yellow or gray painted walls, as well as from vine-covered walls. At a dis-
tance of 1 m. from a brick wall, the decrease of radiation is insignificant.
Vine-covered walls had a very low albedo.
For the study of radiation reflected from horizontal surfaces, asphalt,
spear-grass, compacted soil, and lawns were chosen. Spear-grass had the
highest albedo, asphalt somewhat lower, followed by compacted soil, and lawn.
Lawns and ivy-covered walls heat up very little, have a low albedo, and there-
fore are effective in lowering the air temperature.
The properties of green plantings — capable of establishing a unique
balance of radiation, heat, and moisture in areas where they grow and in the
open spaces adjacent to them as well as their ability to regulate the air
movement near the surface — make them very essential factors affecting the
sanitary and hygienic conditions of residential areas. Judicious planting,
which takes into account local climatic conditions as well as the biological
characteristics of the plants, will promote optimum microclimatic, sanitary,
and hygienic conditions for the inhabitants.
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RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES FOR PLANTING SANITARY-PROTECTIVE GREEN BELTS
IN AREAS OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES.
V. D. Pryakhln.
K. D. Parfilot Research Institutt of the Aoadt^r of Municipal Economy
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel'
nost" i prbmyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V
(Sverdlovsk, 1966) p. 169-172.
It is of paramount importance in our society to make more healthful the
conditions of work, rest and living, and to protect the air against pollution.
These problems arose during the industrialization of our country and increased
during the present rapid development of industry.
To date, a great deal has been done in this direction. Industrial wastts
have been classified on the basis of their injuriousness; permissible concen-
tration limits have been established for industrial discharges into the air;
distances from industrial enterprises have been fixed for locating settlements;
norms have been worked out for residential construction; dust, smoke and gas
controls have been installed in many enterprises; work is being done on
improving the effectiveness of sanitary spacing, and the like.
All these measures, however, lag behind the rapid industrial growth. The
air in industrial areas is still heavily polluted with industrial discharges,
and in many instances their concentration exceeds the allowable limits.
Particularly affected are cities in the Urals, Donbass, Kuzbass, and other
industrial regions. The excess of concentration of industrial pollutants over
the permissible limits is a widespread phenomenon. Plants manufacturing syn-
thetic fibers discharge into the air 60,000 m.^ of toxic gases for each ton of
their production. And yet, to date no methods have been developed for deter-
mining the concentration of injurious exhausts around these plants. A compre-
hensive program of measures to safeguard the purity of air has been devised.
Where these measures have been taken, the quality of air is continuously improv-
ing. Thus, in the last few years a considerable number of dust and smoke
catchers were installed in Moscow, many enterprises, apartment house furnaces, and
heat supply installations for public buildings and residential units have been
converted to gas; and many enterprises and individual shops, which formerly
polluted the air, have been moved outside the city. Compared with 1950 the dust
content in the city air has been reduced 5-6 times, the sulfur dioxide concen-
tration has been reduced 3 times in comparison with 1956, and the construction
of traffic tunnels has lowered the concentration of carbon monoxide and hydro-
carbons 4-6 times. Similar work is being done in other large cities also.
Planting of sanitation and protective belts is an important method in the sum
total of measures for the protection of air in industrial cities. In planning
green plantings for the sanitary-protective zones, the following problems should
be solved: location of plantings, their concentration, selection of gas-resist-
ant trees and shrubs, and the agro-technical methods of planting and care. The
solution of these questions is tied to the specific purpose for which the
greenery is intended in a given area.
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It is frequently thought that verdant plantings are a potent and continuous
natural absorber of noxious industrial discharges. With this assumption, it is
concluded that If the polluted air passes through plantings It will emerge
purified. This assumption, however, is baseless.
Green plantings cannot be counted as natural, limitless absorbers of toxic
gases. In addition, depending on the geographic location, trees and shrubs have
no leaves for 5-7 months. Coniferous trees and shrubs, which retain their green
foliage during the winter are, as a rule, non-resistant to industrial pollutants.
When the air is polluted by various aerosols, dust, soot, smoke, etc., green
plantings will retain the suspended particles on their leaves, branches, and
trunks, and the rain will wash them down.
The decisive measures in combating air pollution by industrial discharges
of noxious gases are the installations of smoke and gas catchers and recuper-
ator units, and their effective maintenance.
Although green plantings cannot act as absorbers of industrial discharges
of injurious gases, their function in sanitary-protective areas is indeed great.
Besides their usual function, such as enrichment of air with oxygen, ornamental
aspects, and the like, properly designed green plantings in sanitary-protective
areas, can and should perform the following important functions:
(a) Contribute to systematic ventilation of the area and insure the di-
version of polluted air in a most convenient horizontal direction and away from
residential and industrial areas;
(b) Contribute to the formation of vertical air currents to carry off
polluted air from the area and to disperse it in higher atmospheric layers
(accomplished in summertime by the lowering of air temperature over the plant-
ings and by the rise in temperature over bare or over specially paved areas)
and, in wintertime, by converse conditions.
(c) Purify the air of aerosols, dust, soot, and smoke.
To insure the ventilation of the industrial installation and of the sani-
tary-protective zone, the green plantings should be located so that a special
passage is provided leading through the point at which the noxious gases are
discharged or through the point at which their highest concentration in the
area is known. The direction of this passage should coincide with the direction
of the prevailing winds.
If the direction of the prevailing winds is variable, then it may be
necessary to provide two or in some instances three such passages going through
the same point in the area of the industrial enterprise. Their width should be
100-120 m. To increase the velocity of the air current and accelerate the
ventilation, the passages should be somewhat constricted (10-15%) within the
area of the industrial unit. There should be no high plantings, buildings, or
other barriers which would impede ventilation (See figure). No residential
units should be located at the exit of the green passages.
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CZJ
Rules for locating forest strips in sanitary protective zones
in accordance with the direction of prevailing wiads ia the
area of an industrial ectablistoaeat.
**• eonrtant uni-directional vindc; b»- winds fro» opposite
directions; o.- changeable wind direction*; 1.- looa^iea of
industrial unit, sovroe of sir »oll«tiom ?.- sanitary pr«-
teotire strips; 3.-open spaces; kt- residential districts;
5«- wind direction.
Green plantings in the sanitary-protective zones should have the following
characteristics:
(a) They should be continuously ventilated, i.e. that they should not
collect noxious industrial discharges;
(b) They should be capable of maximum reduction in wind velocity in the
direction of the residential areas;
(c) The trees and shrubs of these plantings should have the greatest
possible branching and leaf coverage;
(d) The methods of green plantings of the sanitary-protective zones.
(i.e., the principles of location, layout, and field practices) should be as
economical as possible.
Considering these points, the planting of the sanitary-protective zones in
the shape of a dense forest-like unit, and particularly when horizontally closed,
is inadmissible. Such dense forest-like plantings are not ventilated; they
collect polluted air. Their planting and maintenance are expensive and require
vehicles, labor, and planting material; in addition, dense plantings impede
branching and leafing of trees and shrubs so that the foliage concentrates
solely at the top.
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All the basic requirements are satisfied by narrow-strip plantings with a
distance of 40 cm. between the strips. Narrow forest strips of 7-8 rows are set
out along the direction of the prevailing winds and are designed so that there
would be constant ventilation between the strips. This, however, is advisable
in cases where planning norms are followed, i.e., where the residential area is
not located down-wind from the industrial area.
The most distant rows of the narrow forest strips should be planted with
low or medium height shrubs; behind these should follow tall shrubs; and the two
middle rows should consist of trees of the main species; and the rows between
the tall shrubs and the main tree species should consist of sprouts of rapidly-
growing tree species. Such a stepwise layout of forest belts provides the
greatest density of planting, the best branching and leaf coverage of trees and
shrubs, because actually each of the rows is fully exposed as if it were on a
fringe.
To make mechanized maintenance cheaper, the distances between rows in the
forest belts are 2.5-3.0 m. Because of this, the distances between the plants
within the rows should be made smaller than those that have been recommended
till now, i.e., the distances should be 0.5 m. for trees and 0.4 m. for shrubs.
Such distances within the rows provide for a very great density of planting and
a high degree of wind protection effect; and at the same time, sufficient area
for plant feeding is allowed.
Based on research and experimental results of planning and of production
units, the landscape sector of the K. D. Pamfilov Academy of Municipal Economy
worked out "Tentative technical guidelines of planning green plantings in
sanitary and protective zones of industrial enterprises" (Vremennye tekhni-
cheskie ukazaniya po proektirovaniyu zelenykh nasazhdeniy v sanitarno-zashchit-
nykh zonakh promyshlennykh predpriyatiy); these were approved for use by the
Ministry of Municipal Economy of the RSFSR.
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SMOKE RESISTANCE OF WOODY PLANTS
AS AN ECOLOGICAL PROBLEM.
Yu. Z. Kulagin.
Bashkir Sttt« University
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel1
nost1 i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale.
V (Sverdlovsk, 1966), p. 25-27.
The problem of smoke resistance of woody plants has been studied by
many investigators for over half a century, yet it remains unsolved.
Particularly inadequate are the following: (1) the evaluation of the actual
gas and smoke resistance of various species of trees and shrubs; (2) the
understanding of some of the cuases of unsuccessful establishment of green
plantings and reforestation efforts in industrial areas, and (3) the develop-
ment of effective methods of achieving better results with plantings and
reforestation efforts within industrial regions.
Quite naturally, the task of assembling a smoke-resistant assortment is
based essentially on determination of the degree of vulnerability of leaves,
and on grouping the species into three catagories: recommended, admissible,
and non-recommended. However, in so doing, a rather important consideration
is being ignored, namely: what are smoke conditions for which one or another
species is being recommended, and what are the smoke conditions which make
these species unsuitable. The question of ecological specificity of various
conditions of smoke is generally not considered, and the role of external
conditions in smoke resistance of plants is thought of as insignificant,
provided that "the conditons are such that the plants can develop relatively
normally" (Shabiolovskiy and Krasinskiy, 1950).
The ecological concept of smoke resistance in plants (Kulagin, 1962)
was the basis of our investigations on the territory and surroundings of the
metallurgical and petroleum refineries of the Chelyabinsk and Orenburg districts,
and in the Bashkir A.S.S.R. The basic requirements were (1) a differentiated
approach to the factor of smoke pollution in order to separate ecologically
different conditions and establish on this basis smoke pollution zones; (2)
determination of the smoke resistance factors of a given species as applicable
to the specific smoke pollution conditions, the latter determination being made
in the light of the dust and gas sensitivity of leaf-covered shoots of thses
species, as well as in the light of their morphogenesis and resistance to
other unfavorable aspects of their environment.
Conditions of smoke pollution should be distinguished by considering the
physico-chemical properties of the toxic components in the smoke, the intensity
of gas and dust effects, the frequency of their occurrence during the growing
period, and their annual recurrence. The basic conditions of smoke pollution
include constant (annual), periodic (once or twice during the growing period),
-------
and sporadic (non-annual) occurrence. In the case of periodic and sporadic
smoke pollution there are situations of early, mid-and late summer smoke
effects, which, although somewhat similar, may cause the damaged shoots
either to perish or to survive, depending on their stages of growth. The
latter depends on the degree of development of the shoots, their resistance
to summer desiccation, and their ability to regenerate their leaves.
Many investigators consider the European white birch as non-resistant
to gases and include it in the non-recommended group.
However, in the neighborhood of the Karabash copper smelter (southern
Urals) the birch is a successful forest builder, notwithstanding the annual
average and strong gas burns of the leaves. It should also be noted that
the soil and climatic conditions of the Urals are not as favorable for the
birch as are the European parts of the U.S.S.R., although they do not inter-
fere with the normal growth and development of the birch. The reason for
the resistance of the European white birch is the timing of the smoke.
Because of the peculiarities of the climate, the gas attack upon the trees
occurs in the second half of the growing period, at a time when all the
important processes of growth, sprouting of shoots, blooming, and seed
development are essentially complete. It can thus be said that ecologically
such smoke conditions are equivalent to early frost, which shortens the
growing period of the birch and causes a premature but not dangerous onset
of autumn.
The effect of smoke depends on conditions of the surroundings; hence,
its phytotoxicity varies greatly. As examples let us examine the damage
(in %) to the leaves of the linden tree and the European birdcherry caused
by 20 g./m.3. hr. of S02, applied at different times of the day:
Morning Noon Evening Night
Linden tree 2 20 1 0
Birdcherry 1 500
This demonstrates a marked increase in the damage to the leaves at
noontime and an absence of gas burns at night. There is also evidence of a
sharp drop in the toxicity of SO- in the shade:
o
Gas concentration in g./m. . hr. Forest Fringe
Leaves in sunlight 10 0 5
20 0 >20
Leaves in the shade 10 0 15
20 0 40
Under the canopy of a closed stand of an oak-linden forest, the gas burns
on the leaves of an English oak disappear on trees shielded inside the forest
as compared with leaf burns found on trees at the fringes, and this is true not
only for the xeromorphic and less gas susceptible leaves in full sunlight but
also for those in the shade.
-------
The ecological concept of smoke resistance of trees requires a recognition
of the so-called critical periods when the sensitivity to toxic compounds is
greatest and, consequently, the damage is higher and results in subsequent
destruction of the entire plant. The critical periods are connected with: (a)
weak morphological defense of tender shoots; (b) inability to regenerate leaves;
(c) the injury is followed by unfavorable weather conditions, such as drought or
frost. Thus, it was found that the critical period for conifers (pine and
spruce) dusted with powdered magnesium oxide is early summer, a time when the
coniferous needles are being formed. A strong attack of sulfur dioxide in
early or midsummer is lethal for pine, spruce, lilac, honeysuckle, barberry,
snow-berry and other species having a weak capacity of leaf regeneration. A late
summer exposure to sulfur dioxide is not injurious to them. The red ash succumbs
to midsummer injuries, when its shoots regenerate the leaves, but the loss of
leaves in late summer is ecologically equivalent to an early fall, and therefore
safe. Oil refinery gases are stunting to young shoots and leaves of elms,
European white birch, pubescent birch, red ash, and ash-leaved maple. The
withering of the first four species is caused by summer drought when the weakened
leaves drop off. Ash-leaved maple perishes from winter frost because its shoots,
only slightly lignified, extend their growth into autumn. Thus, fixing the
critical period must account for the nature of the phytotoxicity of smoke and
the morphogenesis of the shoots. The relationship of critical periods and
smoke resistance of trees is useful not only in the selection of highly resist^
ant varieties for landscaping and reforestation of the surroundings of the Ufa
oil refinery, of the Karabash copper smelter, and the Satkin magnesite plant,
but also in working out concrete plans for these enterprises in order to mini-
mize the pernicious effect of smoke from these plants on vegetation. The
recommendations should stress the necessity of continuous use of smoke purifi-
cation units, their effective performance during the critical period, and
postponement of their reconditioning to autumn and winter.
Thus, the phytotoxic compounds carried by smoke from industrial plants
should be considered as an ecological factor, lethally acting first and foremost
on the leaves. The degree of toxicity of industrial gases depends greatly on
the conditions of the surrounding atmosphere. Destruction of leaves does not
necessarily mean destruction of the entire plant. The destructiveness of the
toxic gases is largely determined by the time of their incidence. The survival
and regeneration of normal life activity of trees is determined by the extent
of the maturity of their shoots and their resistance to the subsequent weather
conditions. The selection of highly smoke-resistant trees and shrubs will
succeed only when we learn to recognize the specific ecology of various environ-
mental conditions and zones of smoke polluted areas in need of green plantings
and reforestation.
Literature
Shabliovskiy, V. V. i N. P. Krasinskiy. Povrezhdenie zelenykh nasazhdeniy
dymovymi otkhodami na promploshchadkakh tsvetnoy metallurgii. - Dymo-
ustoychivost1 rasteniy i dymoustoychivye assortimenty. M.-Gor'kiy,
1950 (Gor'kov.gos. un-t i AKKh im. K. D. Pamfilova).
Kulagin, Yu. Z. 0 dymoustoychivosti drevesnykh rasteniy. - Tezisy dokladov
pervoy nauchnoy sessii Ural'skogo koordinatsionnogo soveta po tekhni-
cheskim i estestvennym naukam. Sverdlovsk, 1962 (UPI im. S. M. Kirova).
-------
STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES OF TREES AND SHRUBS
IN RELATION TO GAS AND SMOKE RESISTANCE
A.S. Sitnikova.
Karaganda Botanical Garden, Academy of Sciences, Kasakh SSR
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prlrody. Rastitel1
nost' i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V
(Sverdlovsk, 1966), p. 39-44.
In the Karaganda industrial region, in addition to the damage caused
by droughts and drying winds, the damaging effect of smoke and gas on plants
can also be observed. In view of this, and with the purpose of selecting
the most resistant species for plantings, we have undertaken to study the
peculiar physiological processes occurring in the plants under influence of
smoke and gas.
The investigation was carried out during a period of four years in the
Botanical Garden of Karaganda, and in the central Ore Dressing Plant, at
the Temir-Tau Metallurgical Mill. To this end, the following trees, all of
the same age, were planted in the above places: box elder, pinnately-
branched elm, common lilac, oleaster, balsam poplar, Tartar honeysuckle,
Siberian pea tree, Scotch pine, European white birch, brittle willow,
Hungarian lilac, Tartar maple, and sweetbrier. These plants were studied
in relation to growth and development characteristics, water conditions,
intensity of photosynthesis, carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism, differ-
ential oxidation of cell content, and the dynamics of chlorophyll accumulation.
The water conditions were determined by the following indices: water
content—gravimetrically, bound water—refractometrically, transpiration
intensity—by the L. A. Ivanov method, water retention ability of the leaves--
by the A. A. Nichiporovich method, photosynthesis intensity—by the S.V.
Tageeva method, dynamics of chlorophyll accumulation--by the Getri method,
differential oxidation of cell content—by the N. P. Krasinskiy method, dynamics
of carbohydrate accumulation—by the Kizil1 method, and the determination of
carbohydrates by the Bertrand method. In the study of the above enumerated
aspects during the growing period, the nature of gaseous and dust discharges
in the air was always noted. Gas and dust determinations were made by the
Karaganda sanitary-epidemiological station.
In all plots, and particularly on the territory of the Metallurgical
Plant, the air contained appreciable dust and smoke. The concentration of
CO on certain days reached 64 and of S02 -- 5.3 mg./m.^ .
The territory of the Botanical Garden is in somewhat better condition.
Because of the discontinuance of coal mining in the vicinity, the gas and
dust concentrations in the air declined, and therefore the plants growing
within the Botanical Garden were considered to serve as control plants.
In several of the species (Siberian pea tree, oleaster, elm, and box
elder) the initial development phases in the smoke polluted areas occur
-------
earlier and pass faster than in the plants within the Botanical Garden. In
addition, in 1963, on the territory of the Metallurgical Plant there was
observed considerable gas injury to the leaves, which in many species caused
leaf-drop in the middle of July, and in some species (such as brittle willow
and Hungarian lilac) there was also observed second leaf development.
The growth of shoots is an important biological indicator. In this
respect the studied plants can be divided into two groups of which the first--
comprising oleaster, Tartar honeysuckle, European white birch, and Hungarian
lilac—is characterized by an intense growth in smbke polluted areas, whereas
the second group--comprising box elder, Scotch pine, and black locust—had an
arrested growth of lateral shoots. In the Botanical Garden the growth was
most intensive in plants of the second group. The pinnately-branched elm and
the common lilac take up an intermediate position between two groups; the rate
of growth of their shoots in the smoke polluted plots varied from year to year
and with the age of the plant.
It is known that the water conditions in plants are intimately related to
their various physiological processes. The water conditions strongly affect
metabolism and the ratio between anabolism and catabolism. Hence, (1) the
water supply during a period of intense physiological activity, (2) the water
content of tissue, and (3) the ratio of the forms of water in the organs
during the vegetative period—constitute important factors in the gas-smoke
resistance of plants. Of great importance are the characteristics of transpi-
ration, which to a large extent insures the feeding of the root system and of
the aerial parts. Therefore, it is necessary to study the transpiration
ability of plants in order to evaluate their viability under new ecological
conditions.
Our results show that among the weakly transpiring plant species the
following should be included: the box elder, the European white birch, the
common lilac, and the Scotch pine. These species have a very low transpiration
index in smoke polluted areas. The oleaster, the pinnately-branched elm, and
the balsam poplar transpire very intensely when grown in smoke polluted areas.
In all the species transpiration appeared labile, and dependent on the
weather conditions and the state of the organism. Two types of diurnal course
of transpiration intensity of the plants studied can be noted:
1. The transpiration took place with a gradual increase during the course
of the day and with a slight decline at certain periods; this type of transpi-
ration is characteristic of conditions in which there is a sufficient water
supply and was observed in the oleaster, Tartar honeysuckle, balsam poplar, box
elder, and common lilac (Fig. 1).
2. The course of transpiration was characterized by fluctuations with a
maximum taking place between 12 noon and 2 PM. These fluctuations were apparently
connected with the extreme meteorological factors. The amplitude increased with
the ability of the species to decrease the water loss. This type of transpira-
tion was observed in the pinnately-branched elm, European white birch, Siberian
pea tree, and Scotch pine (Fig. 2). The process of transpiration in the
-------
studied plants was related to the growing conditions. In the species that had
shown a high transpiration capacity the drop in transpiration was clearly
expressed in plants grown on the smoke polluted plots. Plants with a low
transpiration capacity growing in smoke polluted air have frequently shown a
heightened transpiration intensity.
A study of the water content of leaves of various plants showed that
their water content changed regularly during the growing period. At the
beginning of July this index decreases and the water content rises only at
the end of the growing period.
There were also variations in the
bound water content. In the resistant
species its quantity increased when
grown on smoke polluted plots; it
also increased from spring to autumn.
The plant species with low smoke
and gas resistance had a higher
content of free water and a lower
quantity of bound water (Table 1).
It is known that the water-
holding capacity of leaves charac-
terizes the ability of plants to
withstand dehydration. Our observa-
tions have shown that the water
retention capacity in most of the
species changes during the growing
period, increasing from spring to
autumn. The smoke-resistant species
had a greater water retention capa-
city, particularly toward the end of
the growing period. This was true
also for plants growing in smoke
polluted plots, which undoubtedly
indicates the adaptive capacity of
these plants (Fig. 3). A lowering
of the water retention capacity
when grown on smoke polluted terri-
tory was observed in the European
white birch, the common lilac, the
Hungarian lilac, and the Tartar
honeysuckle. The smoke-resistant
box elder and balsam poplar behaved
differently. In these species the
water retention capacity changed with the weather. Thus, in the dry 1962 an
increase in the water retention capacity was noticed in plants in smoke polluted
areas, particularly toward the end of the growing period; and in 1963 smoke
pollution caused a lowering in the water retention capacity throughout the
entire growing period.
A study of the dynamics of chlorophyll accumulation in leaves showed in
6 8 10 1Z fV IB'
lias of readings
Pig.1. Daily course of transpiration intensity
of russianolivB on July 16, 1962*
1.- Botanical garden? 2,- Or* dressing plaafcl
5.Jletallurgical plant
-------
Table 1
Species
Balsam poplar
Common lilac
Box elder
P innately-
branched
elir
Location
Botanical Garden
Ore concentration mill
Metallurgical plant
Botanical Garden
Ore concentration mill
Metallurgical plant
Botanical Garden
Ore concentration mill
Botanical Garden
Ore concentration mill
June 1, 1963
Total
water
71.1
71.9
77.0
71.0
67.9
73.0
76.3
75.0
73.5
69.2
Bound
water
20.8
49.1
31.5
39.2
58.7
40.3
29.7
34.3
22.2
24.4
July 16, 1963
Total
water
69.5
71.0
76.8
66.2
65.3
65.1
71.9
72.2
67.7
65.7
Bound
Wflter
35.2
16.3
-
28.2
-
12.1
10.8
17.8
28.2
44.4
•g*/g« hr.
sm
\&00
I500
.8 wo
200-
••flings
Vic
Fis.2. Daily eourse of transpiration intensity
of pinnate el* on Jun« 29» 1962.
l.-Botanieal gardent 2. Or* concentration plant
-------
most species a lowering of its content with the aging of the plant. In species
resistant to smoke pollution there was an increase in the chlorophyll content
in smoke polluted plots. The plants of this category included the oleaster,
the pinnately-branched elm, and the balsam poplar.
One of the most important physiological processes in plants is photo-
synthesis. This process is intimately related to all of plant life functions
and to the principal links in metabolism. In our experiments (Table 2) the
most smoke resistant species (namely: the pinnately-branched elm, the oleaster,
and the balsam poplar) accumulated in their leaves an appreciably greater
amount of dry substance, which was particularly pronounced in the case of plants
grown on the territory of the Ore Dressing Mill. In the rest of the species
smoke pollution reduced the accumulation of dry substance. An analysis of the
results of seasonal variations in photosynthesis showed that in most of the
studied species there were two maxima, of which one coincided with the beginning
of July and the other, with the end of July and the beginning of August.
Table 2
Photosynthesis intensity of woody plants, mg./dm.^ hr.
Plant
Oleaster
Pinnately-
branched
elm
Location
totanical Garden
)re concentration mill
fetallurgical plant
totanical Garden
)re concentration mill
Jun. 25- Jy . 17 , 1963 Jun. 12- Jun. 15, 1963
Hour of Reading
9
280
470
240
310
380
11
330
340
280
300
440
13
170
350
280
710
510
15
370
600
460
270
420
9
280
600
590
470
620
11
460
320
590
610
650
13
330
410
340
460
470
15
520
570
790
350
700
Thus, the photosynthesis process reflects on the one hand the biological
peculiarities of the species, and on the other the ecological conditions in
which they grew. It can, therefore, serve as an indicator of the adaptation of
a plant to its habitat.
The importance of carbohydrates in plant life is particularly great. They
are a source of nutrition and energy, and play an important role in plant
metabolism. The role of carbohydrates as means of protection in adverse sur-
roundings is equally well known.
-------
10*1213*15
I!MS of observation
fig. 3, Water retention capacity of pinnate •!• leaves^ 1962.
1»- Botanical garden) 2.- Or* concentration plant
Analyses of the data concerning changes in the sugar content during the
growing period of the species studied lead to the conclusion that the sugar
content is highest in the leaves during the period of roost active growth, and
decreases at the end of the growth period. It has been also found that with
all species studied disaccharides predominated over monosaccharides of all
the dates of sugar analyses. The monosaccharide content changed insignifi-
cantly during the growing period. Variations in the content of carbohydrates
are attributable to die lowering of the disaccharides, which are the most
labile forms of carbohydrates.
The high resistance to smoke pollution found in the pinnately-branched
elm, the oleaster, and the balsam poplar is, to a large extent, due to the
increase in the sugar content of leaves in those species when grown on plots
subject to gas and smoke. This observed phenomenon confirmed the protective
action of carbohydrates.
On the basis of the above presented studies, the species investigated can
be arranged in decreasing order of their resistance to smoke and gas as follows:
the pinnately-branched elm, the oleaster, the balsam poplar, the box elder, the
Tartar honeysuckle, the common lilac, the Siberian pea tree, the European white
birch, and the Scotch pine.
-------
MOISTURE CONDITIONS AND GAS RESISTANCE OP WOODY PIANTS.
Yu. Z. Kulagin.
Bashkir Statt Univtrsity
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel'
nost' i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na Urale. V
(Sverdlovsk, 1966) p. 49-51.
The relationship between water conditions of woody plants and their gas
resistance is of importance in the selection of highly gas-resistant species
on the basis of the specific water conditions and degree of drought resistance.
It is also of importance in raising the gas resistance of plants by changing
the water conditions.
There is an opinion (Ilyushin, 1953) that drought-resistant trees are also
gas-resistant. This thought, although of considerable interest, is not well-
founded. To understand this question better, we have selected a number of
species differing in their degree of drought resistance and the nature of water
conditions in their leaves (Table 1).
Table 1
Water condition of some trees
Species
Sukachev larch*
Siberian pea tree
European white birch
Pubescent birch
Water content, % of raw
weight
total
67.4
62.2
67.0
67.6
free
9.1
24.2
17.5
12.9
bound
58.3
38.0
49.5
54.7
Water retaining
capacity, 7«
after
8 hrs.
82.6
17.9
73.6
75.0
after
24 hrs.
53.5
3.6
17.0
24.5
* The analyzed needles grew from wintered buds.
The Sukachev larch and the Siberian pea tree are regarded as highly drought-
resistant in comparison with the European white birch, and particularly with
pubescent birch, which prefers soils permanently moistened and of higher water
content. It should be noted that the leaves of the pea tree are characterized by
unstable water conditions in comparison with the needles of the larch. This is
shown by a higher free water content (extracted from the leaves with a 30% saccha-
rose solution), low bound water content and low water retention capacity deter-
mined by the amount of water remaining in the leaves after air-drying as per-
centage of the original content. During strong summer droughts the leaves of the
Siberian pea tree wither. The viability of the pea tree is guaranteed to a large
degree by the high resistance to desiccation of the leafless shoots, a condition
aided by early summer formation of shoots and buds. The gas resistance of the
-------
leaves of the selected species varies. Whereas sulfur dioxide damaged the
needles of the larch 100%, the leaves of the pea tree sustained burns only on
80%, the European white birch on 50%, and the pubescent birch on 70% of the
total leaf area. Thus, the larch and the pea tree, although roost drought-
resistant, are least gas-resistant. Apparently, this is caused by very weak
external cover on their leaves (Knyazeva, 1950). By comparing two varieties
of birch, it can be seen that a higher drought resistance is paralleled by a
higher gas resistance. The higher gas resistance of the European white birch
is directly connected with their considerable Keromorphism as compared with
the pubescent birch. However, the extent of oxidizability of the cell content
is of great importance in determining the gas resistance of leaves (Krasinskiy,
1950). Our data reveal the absence of decisive influence of cell content
oxidizability on gas resistance:
Total cell content oxidizability
in ml. of 0.1 N-KJfci04 per 1 g. of
dry matter
Sukachev larch
Siberian pea tree
European white birch
Pubescent birch
fresh matter
33.0
32.2
39.2
29.2
95.1
91.2
108.6
104.3
It is, therefore, necessary to accept the fact that the dominant factor in
gas resistance of leaves is their structural characteristic.
If the nature of the water conditions in the leaves is not the main
condition of their gas resistance, it is still necessary to probe the changes
in the water conditions of the various species affected by toxic gases (Table 2),
Table 2
Water condition of leaves growing under various conditions.
Species
Balsam poplar
Littleleaf
linden
Siberian pea
tree
Pubescent birch
Green ash
Box elder
Where
grown
UR
BFES
UR
BFES
UR
BFES
UR
BFES
UR
BFES
UR
BFES
Water content, % of
raw weight
total
66.1
68.3
58.1
64.9
60.0
61.2
68.2
70.2
63.2 :
67.3
82.2
78.5
free '
22.7
23.1
34.4
29.^
44.3
34.2
34. £
41. (
52.1
31.2
58.8
36.7
bound
43.4
45.2
23.7
35.4
15.7
27.0
33.4
39.2
11.1
36.1
23.4
41.8
Water retaining
capacity, %
after 8
hrs.
32.2
47.8
15.6
80.6
15.7
55.1
48.0
69.2
24.0
77.3
63.0
75.7
after 24
hrs.
9.0
12.2
9.0
49.4
8.7
12.2
17.7
34.2
8.5
47.3
19.6
46.8
-------
The Investigation was carried out on a plot in the yard of the Ufa
Refinery (UR) and in the arboretum of the Bashkir Forestry Experiment Station
(FES). In the UR yard the air is at all times polluted with petroleum gases—
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and, 2-4 times annually,
during Summer, with relatively weak concentrations of sulfur dioxide. Under
these conditions a high resistance was shown by balsam poplar. The leaves of
the littleleaf linden and of the Siberian pea tree suffered noticible burns.
The pubescent birch, green ash, and box elder were severely stunted (Kulagin,
Khanov, 1963). The results in Table 2 show that under these conditions of
air pollution the water condition in the poplar leaves changed insignificantly.
The bound water content and the water retention capacity of the leaves of the
other trees dropped considerably. This can be attributed to their lower gas
resistance and to the arrested synthesis of hydrophyllic biocolloids under the
influence of the toxic gases. This is also attested by the smallness of their
leaves. Leaves thus weakened have a lower drought resistance. However, mass
leaf withering and dropping under the influence of drought was observed only
during the rooting of new seedlings of which the root system is damaged and
cannot draw sufficient water. It is therefore very important to prevent root
damage and to avoid drying of the soil during transplanting.
It is, therefore, clear that not all drought-resistant species have also
a higher gas resistance; indeed, the only resistant species are those whose
leaves have a xeromorphic structure. Toxic gases, when injuring susceptible
tree species, affect greatly the water condition of their leaves, lowering
the bound water content and their water retention capacity, and thus, their
drought resistance as well.
Literature
Lyushin, I. R. Usykhanie khvoynykh lesov ot zadymleniya. M.-L. Gosledum-
izdat, 1953.
Knyazeva, E. I. Gazoustoychivost' rasteniy v svyazi s ikh sistematicheskim
polozheniemi morfologo-anatomicheskimi i biologicheskimi osobennostyami.-
Dymoustoychivost' rasteniy i dymoustoychivye assortimenty. M.-Gor'kiy,
1950 (Gor'kov.gos. un-t i AKKh im. K. D. Pamfilova).
Krasinskiy, N. P. Teoreticheskie osnovy postroeniya assortimentov gazo-
ustoychivykh rasteniy. Tarn zhe, 1950.
Kulagin, Yu. Z., F. M. Khanov. Gazoustoychivost' drevesnykh i kustarnikovykh
porod i voprosy ozeleneniya territorii neftepererabotyvayushchykh zavodov
Bashkirskoy ASSR.- Universitety sel'skomu khozyaystvu. Tezisy dokladov,
1959 (LGU).
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THE GAS RESISTANCE OF LOCAL AND INTRODUCED ARBOREAL
PLANTS UNDER THE CONDITIONS EXISTING
IN SVERDLOVSK OBLAST'
V. S. Nlkolaevskly
InttituU of Plant and Aniial Geology, Urals Branch of th» USSR Aoadtqr of Soimow
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural. Filial. Trudy Institute Ekologii Rasteniy I
Zhivotnykh. Vip. 54, (Sverdlovsk, 1967), p. 85-89.
The significant advances in the introduction of arboreal plants into th«
Central Urals (Matnaev and Petukhova, 1961; Petukhova, 1962) have made it possible
to plant greenery in the cities and around industrial establishments by utilizing
not only local plants, but also a much richer assortment of acclimatized plants,
many of which may often be characterized by much greater decorative properties
and gas resistance.
For the purpose of planting trees around industrial plants and populated
areas, in which the atmosphere is polluted by S02 at a higher concentration
than usual (the cities of Krasnouralsk, Kirovgrad, and Revda), an assortment of
suitable arboreal plants will be much more limited than the ones available for
normal conditions.
The increased gas resistance of many introduced arboreal plants leads to
the suggestion that this is in some degree connected with their greater plasti-
city and adaptability to new ecological conditions of the environment. Indeed,
the species that have been successfully acclimatized to the Central Urals do
possess high gas resistance: (box elder, Acer negundo; spindle tree, Euonymus
europaea; etc.) Arboreal plants that get frostbitten in the winter-spring
period (red ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica; filbert, genus Corylus; barberry, genus
Berberis) are less gas-resistant. Excluded from these are Siberian pea tree,
Caragana arborescens; and silverberry, Elaeagnus argentea. The first does not
get frostbitten under Central Ural conditions, but is weakly resistant to 802;
the second, on the other hand, freezes during certain individual years, but is a
gas-resistant species. The reason for the high resistance of silverberry is due
to the fact that both of its leaf surfaces are uniformly covered by umbellate
growths of cuticle. As a result of this, the entry of gases into the leaf meso-
phyll is made difficult.
During 1960, on the basis of a detailed study of the anatomical and physio-
logical characteristics and gas resistance of five arboreal plants their charac-
teristic indices which correlated with gas resistance (Nikolaevskiy, 1964X were
revealed. Among these indices can be mentioned the intensity and direction of
physiological-biochemical processes in the leaves (photosynthesis, respiration,
oxidation-reduction potential, and oxidation-reduction activity) and several
indices of the water regimen (free-water content, total water content, and water
holding capacity). Gas-resistant species are characterized by decreased inten-
-------
(ORP) and oxidation-reduction activity (ORA), and a lover content of ascorbic
acid. With regard to the water regimen, these same species have a greater
content of total and free water and also a greater water-holding capacity.
Among the anatomical indices, there exists a definite connection between
gas resistance and the number,>of stomas per millimeter, the ratio of palisade-
tissue thickness to spongy-tissue thickness (hpai/h8pon), and the ventilation
capacity of the spongy parenchyma according to Ye. I. Knyazeva, 1950). The
characteristics of the leaf's anatomical structure that reduce the gas exchange
rate contribute to the gas resistance. Only by this is it possible to explain
why the leaves of resistant species are characterized by an increased ratio of
b-pal/hspon an(* **y a decreased ventilation capacity of the spongy parenchyma.
On the other hand, the anatomical peculiarities of the leaves correlate well
with the intensity and direction of several physiological-biochemical processes
therein (photosynthesis, respiration, ORP, ORA).
Of the most practical value in planting greenery around industrial centers
is the establishment of an assortment of gas-resistant arboreal plants. Exist-
ing data in the literature dealing with this subject are quite contradictory.
It is natural that the physical and geographical conditions of one or another
region may superimpose their own mark on the resistance of individual species.
No doubt many of the recommended lists, which have been compiled on the basis
of visual observations, are subjective and inaccurate (Kuntsevich and Turchin-
skaya, 1947; lonin and Koltasheva, 1962; and Chernyshev, 1962).
With the purpose of testing the gas resistance of a comprehensive list of
arboreal plants (47 deciduous and 6 coniferous species), in 1961 we conducted
fumigation on branches in a gas chamber periodically three times a year to
determine their susceptibility to injury. The QRP and ORA, ascorbic acid con-
tent, quantity of oxidizable substances identified by N. P. Krasinskiy (1950a),
total water content of the leaves, and water-holding capacity were determined
simultaneously. In addition, on fixed material, the anatomical structure of
the leaves was studied in detail.
On the basis of data on the injury to arboreal plants both in the gas
chamber and under conditions caused by industrial pollution, the species under
study were divided into six groups according to gas resistance and conforming
with N. P. Krasinskiy's classification (1950b). A brief characterization of
these groups by average data obtained during the growing period is given in
Table 1. The indices given for the individual groups of plants are averages
derived from the total number of species in each group. The same table lists
some statistically developed data: the correlation coefficients r and the index
of statistical reliability r/m. The cited averages of the physiological-ana-
tomical leaf indices of the individual groups and the statistical characteristics
confirm the above conclusions obtained from studying the gas resistance of the
five species. A statistically reliable, correlated connection between the in-
tensity of photosynthesis in arboreal plants and the injury to leaves caused by
acid gases was obtained. Also, a reliable correlation between the injury to the
leaves by gases and the content of ascorbic acid, the amount of oxidizable sub-
stances, the total water content, the free-water content, and the water-holding
capacity of the leaves was established. The given anatomical indices of the
-------
CO
H
r^
2
I
.5
Jl
I
*
C
j
OO
nod* pd ~
I/ 1 CM*'~O oo
JO
*H"fi
COlO
• • • • k
CO t^ h* (O CO
-«n*x j*4wj
683
888
O<0
SS"
IOIOOO —
"o>"
totou?
O> '"TOO
OCNO
00— .01
•*
OO
CO-I-"
"'s
oo>o
oo
-------
photosynthesis,
in its leaves.
= 17.3, and there is almost twice as much oxidizable material
In order to substantiate the recommendations on an assortment of species, we
studied the gas resistance of the species most widely used in the Central Urals.
In the 47 deciduous species used for testing gas resistance, it is of interest to
trace the gas resistance and the number of local and introduced species in the
various resistance groupings. The relationship of local and introduced arboreal
plants according to the particular groups of gas resistance is presented in
Table II in absolute and relative indices. Here it is immediately evident that
the introduced species predominate in groups 2 and 3. The number of native
species increases in proportion to the decrease in gas resistance (groups 6 and
7).
Qas resistance of local and introduced arboreal plant*
in the Central Urals
Table 2
Groups
aooording
to gas
resistance
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th & 6th
7th
Susceptibility to
injury aooording to
K. P. Krasinskiy
(1950)
Of the species of arboreal plants studied] *.
in absolute numbers
1
1
Very teak 0
Weak £
Weak-Medina 2
Medium 3
Medina strong I strong ' *
Very strong 4
_
Total • • •
11
ll
0
2
9
11 .
7
7
36
1
4>
0
2
11
14
9
11
47
in %
1
0
0
18
21
22
36
21
ll
0
100
82
79
78
64
79
•
1
0
100
100
100
100
100
100
8"
15*
!!
o P. 5
0
4.2
23.4
29.8
19.2
23.4
100
In a similar analysis we experimented with the scale used by N. P. Krasin-
skiy and Ye. I. Knyazeva (1950). The species therein are divided into three groups:
recommended, acceptable, and not recommended. In these groups the ratio of indi-
genous and introduced species in percentages turned out to be the following:
1st group: native 11, introduced 89%
2nd group: native 28, introduced 72%
3rd group: native 50, introduced 50%.
Our scale (Nikolaevskiy, 1964) had only a 50% congruity with that of N. P. Krasin-
skiy and Ye. I. Knyazeva (1950). However, under Moscow and Gor'kiy conditions,
the introduced arboreal plants also exhibit a greater gas resistance than do the
indigenous plants.
The latter may be explained by the great plasticity and adaptability of these
species to new ecological conditions, including even air pollution. This is
particularly convincingly developed when the gas resistance of the maple species
is traced. Box elder is the most successfully acclimatized of the species and is
considered quite hardy. In susceptibility to injury it belongs to the second group.
Norway maple, Acer platanoides: Tartar maple, A. tataricum; and Amur maple, A.
-------
ginalla. have been acclimatized less successfully in comparison with the first,
and in resistance they are relegated to the third, fourth, and sixth groups.
In this connection, in order to make verdant industrial establishments and
populated areas having a high degree of air pollution, introduced species such
as those that are more gas-resistant should be recommended over any others.
Belonging to such species are box elder; red-berried elder, Sambucus racemosa;
spindle tree; snowberry, Symphoricarpos racemosus: silverberry; oleaster,
Elaegnus augustifolia; "common" elm, species of Ulraus; pubescent lilac, Svringa
pubescens; Canadian poplar, Populus balsamifera. From the native species only
two can be used: Tartar honeysuckle, Lonicera tatarica; and goat or sallow
willow, Salix caprea.
In cities without a high level of pollution, the assortment can be in-
creased by means of less resistant and native species. Here it is possible to
employ even some coniferous species: savin, Juniperus sabina; Siberian larch,
Larix siberica: and Sukachev larch.
Conelus ions
1. In the planting of greenery around industrial centers and cities with
a significant pollution of the air by acid gases, a wider use is made of introduced
arboreal species, as compared with the use of local species. This is due to the
fact that the introduced species are not only more ornamental but also are often
greater gas resistant.
2. The relatively high gas resistance of a number of introduced species,
in comparison with native species, can be explained by their higher plasticity
and adaptability to new ecological conditions, including even air pollution.
3. The study of the physiological-biochemical characteristics of arboreal
plants and the anatomical-morphological structure of their leaves permitted us
to isolate six groups on the basis of gas resistance. Among the resistant
arboreal plants in the groups, there predominate introduced species that can
also be recommended for landscaping industrial complexes and populated points
near them.
Literature
lonin, V. M. i V. F. Koltasheva. 0 gasoustoychivosti drevesno-kustarnikovykh
rasteniy. — Dokl. nauch.-tekhn. konf. po ozeleneniyu gorodov Permskoy
oblasti. Sverdlovsk, 1962 (UNII AKKH im. K. D. Pamfilova).
Knyazeva, E. I. Gazoustoychivost' rasteniy v svyazi s ikh sistematicheskimi i
biolgichskimi osobennostyami. — Dimoustoychivost' rasteniy i dimoustoy-
chivye assortimenti. M. -- Gor'kiy, 1950 (Gor'kovskiy gos. unAt i AKKH im
K. D. Pamfilova).
-------
Literature (continued)
Krasinskiy, N. P. Teoreticheckie osnovy postroeniya gazoustoychivykh aseorti-
mentov. — Tarn zhe, 1950a.
Krasinskiy, N. P. Metody iaucheniya gazoustoychivosti rasteniy. — Tarn zhe,
1950b.
Krasinskiy, N. P. i E.I. Knyazeva. Dymoustoychivye assortimenty. Tarn zhe,
1950.
Kuntsevich, I. P. i T. N. Turchinskaya. Ozelenenie fabrichno-zavodskikh ploschadok
i promyshlennykh poselkov. M., 1957 (AKKH im. K. D. Pamfilova).
Mamaev, S. A. i I. p. Petukhova. Assortiment drevesnykh porod dlya ozeleneniya
naselennykh mest Sverdlovskoy oblasti. Sverdlovsk, 1961 (Bot. sad In.-ta
biologii UFAN SSSR).
Nikolaevskiy, V. S. Vliyanie sernistogo angidrida na drevesnye rasteniya v
usloviyakh Sverdlovskoy oblasti. -- Okhrana prirody na Urale, vyp 4.
Sverdlovsk, 1964 (UFAN SSSR, Ur. gos. un-t).
Petukhova, I. P. Itogi introduktsii derev'ev i kustarnikov na Srednem Urale.
(Avtoref. kand. diss.). Krosnoyarsk, 1962.
Tomas, M. D. Vliyanie zagryazneniya atmosfernogo vozdukha na rasteniya. —-
Zagryazneniya atmosfernogo vozdukha. V.O.Z. Zheneva, 1962.
Chernyshev, I. A. 0 gazoustoychivosti nekotorykh drevesnykh i kustarnikovykh
porod Urala. -- Lesn. zh., 1962, 4.
-------
ASSORTMENTS OF GAS-RESISTANT LAWN GRASSES
E. N. Kazantseva
Ural Soimtifie RtMtroh InititvU, AKKb ii. K. D. Purfilow
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural filial. Trudy Inst. Ekologii Rasteniy 1 Zhivotnyhk.
vip. 54, (Sverdlovsk, 1967) p. 91-95.
The planting of industrial regions with green vegetation is essential to
public welfare. The selection of plants resistant to gases, while adhering to
the rules of agricultural technology, makes it possible to fight the pollution
of the surrounding environment.
It is necessary to study plant behavior under conditions of gas pollution
in order to select gas-resistant species that are less subject to damage under
these conditions.
We conducted investigations concerning the gas resistance of lawn grasses
at the Ural aluminum plant in Kamensk-Ural'skiy, Sverdlovsk oblast*. The basic
emissions here are fluorine compounds, the maximum concentration of which reaches
0.612 mg. per m^ of air in the electrolysis sections of the plants.
The purpose of this work was to investigate the physiological reasons for
susceptibility to damage of lawn grasses and to select an assortment of resistant
grasses for planting lawns in industrial areas under conditions of fluorine
pollution. Plant injury has been studied (Krasinskiy, 1950), as well as the
intensity of photosynthesis by the L. A. Ivanov method (N. A. Kossovich, 1946)
and the water-holding capacity (Nichiporovich, 1926). The volume of free and
bound water and also the concentration of cell contents (Gusev, 1960) have been
determined.
The tests were conducted during the 1964 growing season with grasses that
had been grown for three years near the electrolysis plant (the test) and in a
residential area (the control). Analogous investigations were conducted on
one-and two-year-old plants (Kazantseva, 1963).
Photosynthesis and the water regimen were studied in depth in meadow fescue,
Festuca pratensis; red fescue, F_. rubra; Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis; red
top, Agrostus alba; and timothy grass, Pheleum pratense. Grass damage was
observed in early spring when the leaves were appearing. In this period there
was a burn on the tips of the leaves, then spotting and blotching appeared. The
burn gradually spread to the base of the leaves, which brought about their demise.
With the growth of the above-ground mass, the damage increases and reaches a peak
toward the end of the season (in August).
Figure 1 shows grass damage during the growing period. The smallest per-
centage of damage (5%) in the spring of 1964 was observed on meadow fescue, red
fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass. The greatest damage was found on red top and
"regneria" (a species of Roegneria - related to wheatgrass, Agropyron). (25%),
awnless bromegrass, Bromus inermis; and timothy grass (30%). Toward the end of
-------
the season, damage to meadow fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and red fescue was 35
to 40%, and to awnless bromegrass, red top, "regneria," arid timothy grass up
to 50-60%. Hence, grasses that are not resistant to fluorine have a percentage
of damage almost twice that of those that are more resistant.
60
Average data on grass damage in
1964 are shown in Table 1.
Lawn grasses can be divided into
two groups in terms of leaf damage:
slightly damaged (meadow fescue, red
fescue, Kentucky bluegrass) and great-
ly damaged (red top, "regneria," awn-
less bromegrass, timothy grass). The
injuries are an external reflection
of the effect of toxic substances and
appear on plants mainly during the
photosynthesis process (Ivanov, 1936).
A number of authors (Thomas and Hill,
1937; Fortunatov, 1958) have dealt
with the effect of fluorine and sul-
fur dioxide on plant photosynthesis.
The authors' investigation into lawn
grass photosynthesis showed that the
intensity of photosynthesis varied
among the species Studied. Figure 2
presents the photosynthesis of lawn
grasses for a growing period. From
these data it is evident that the
greatest intensity of photosynthesis
during summer is found in red top.
w
Moth
1-mtAow ftMiMt 2-r«d {
Suoky blntgrtjMi 5- MB]
5-rtfl topi^-"r*gn«ri»r
u
7-t
Table 1
Dependence of damage to
(average
lawn grasses on photosynthesis
data for 1964)
Plant
Meadow fescue
Red fescue
Kentucky bluegrass
Red top
Timothy grass
"Regneria"
Awnless bromegrass
Damage %
23
23
26
33
46
38
40
Intensity of photosynthesis
mg. CC>2 per 1 dm^ per hour
44.9
39.6
49.9
81.1
43.5
....
—"••• —
-------
Ttrt
Centre!
Fig. 2. Photosynthesis of grasses for a growth period «f 1964.
fescue 5 2-red fesouot 3-JCtntuoJty bluegrassi Wed topt
5-tisothy grass.
If these average monthly data are compared in terms of photosynthesis, it
is evident that in the most damaged grass — red top — the intensity of photo-
synthesis was two times greater than in the less damaged meadow fescue, red
fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass. Timothy grass behaved rather strangely. This
grass is usually severely damaged by fluorine from July on, but data on photo-
synthesis were low in comparison with the heavily damaged red top. Evidently,
this can be explained by the anatomical and physiological-biochemical peculi-'
arities of timothy grass.
From the data obtained it follows that slightly damaged lawn grasses have
a lesser intensity of photosynthesis than those that are severely damaged (with
the exception of timothy grass). This principle can be explained by the fact
that grasses with lesser energy of photosynthesis are characterized by less
active enzyme systems, and this in turn lowers gas exchange and decreases the
accumulation of fluorine by leaf tissue, as a result of which they are damaged
to a lesser degree. The opposite is observed in severely damaged grasses. This
connection was established by investigations of woody plants conducted by V. S.
Nikolaevskiy (1963). Photosynthesis intensity in grasses grown in a gas polluted
zone is lower than in a residential area by 40% to 10% (see Figure 2).
Consequently, under the effect of fluorine compounds, the photosynthesis of
lawn grasses is depressed as a function of the worsening of the growing condi-
tions and the daylight factor and of the accumulation of fluorine in the plants
Average photosynthesis and data of injury over a one-year period for three-year-
old grasses are presented in Table 1, from which the same connection can be seen
between the intensity of photosynthesis and susceptibility to damage, as from
average monthly indices. Red top, very heavily damaged (33%), has the highest
intensity of photosynthesis (81.1 mg. C02). Timothy grass has the highest degree
-------
of damage (46%) and a low intensity of photosynthesis (43.5 mg.
explained by its specific characteristics.
This is
The water regimen of the plants is a part of the overall process of plant
metabolism (Gusev, 1960). The character of a water regimen can facilitate an
increase in the hardiness of plants in proportion to unfavorable conditions.
The differences of water regimens are determined by the specificity of proteins
and metabolism in plants. The water-holding capacity of leaves, according to
N. A. Maksimov (1952) and other investigators, can serve as an index of plant
stability.
Table 2
Water-holding capacity of leaves of lawn-grasses, %
(average monthly data)
Plant
Meadow fescue
Red fescue
Kentucky bluegrass
Red top
Polluted Area
June
12.0
8.0
7.0
6.0
July
12.0
9.0
8.0
7.5
August
6.0
6.0
7.0
4.0
Control
June
12.0
9.0
8.0
7.0
July
12.3
10.5
11.0
12.0
August
10.0
6.0
11.0
8.0
Investigations of the water regimen of three-year-old grasses showed that
the water-holding capacity of their leaves after 24 hours without water was not
the same (Table 2). Red top, severely damaged by fluorine, had a lower water-
holding capacity, and the less damaged (meadow fescue, red fescue, Kentucky
bluegrass) had a high water-holding capacity. The tabulated data show that in
a controlled sector the water-holding capcity of grasses is greater than in
plants in an industrial zone.
Table 3
Quantity of bound and free water in leaves of lawn grasses,
Plant
Meadow fescue
Red fescue
Kentucky bluegrass
Red top
Timothy grass
Polluted Area
Bound Water
July
63.0
59.0
54.0
66.0
65.0
August
25.0
30.0
23.0
26.0
36.0
Free Water
July
13.5
13.0
16,0
12.0
10.0
August
47.0
40.0
51.0
40.0
40.0
Control
Bound Water
July
18.0
48.0
32.0
39.0
47.0
August
34.0
34.0
26.0
63.0
48.0
Free Water
July
62.0
31.0
45.0
38.0
29.0
August
47.0
41.0
50.0
12.0
26.0
While determining the water forms in lawn grasses (Table 3), it turned out
that meadow fesuce, Kentucky bluegrass, and red fescue had more free water than
the heavily damaged red top and timothy grass. A more pronounced difference in
-------
the volume of free water was
for Kentucky bluegrass, 13%
thy grass. The quantity of
was greater than in grasses
that in the severely damaged
quantity of bound water than
bluegrass, and red fescue.
it was learned that there is
different grasses.
noted in July 1964: 13.5% for meadow fescue, 16%
for red fescue, 12% for red top, and 10% for time-
free water in grasses grown in a residential district
from an industrial area. The tabulated data show
grasses, red top and timothy, there is a greater
in less damaged ones: meadow fescue, Kentucky
In determining the concentration of cell contents,
no substantial difference between the data for
• A comparison of water regimen indices for 1964 with grass injury (Table 4)
shows that there is a connection between damage and both water-holding capacity,
and water forms. Less damaged grasses are characterized by a higher water-
holding capacity and greater volume of free water; the opposite is observed for
severely damaged grasses.
Table 4
Water regimen indices for grass leaves as functions
of their gas resistance, % (average data)
Plant
Meadow fescue
Red fescue
Kentucky bluegrass
Red top
Awnless bromegrass
Water-holding
capacity
10.0
7.6
7.3
5.8
2.0
Free
Water
30.0
26.5
33.5
26.0
™
Bound
Water
44.0
44.5
38.8
46.0
"
Juice
Concen-
tration
5.50
7.50
5.75
5.50
™
Damage
23
23
26
33
40
Conclusions
1. Fluorine compounds damage lawn grasses, decrease photosynthesis, water-
holding capacity, and the quantity of free water.
2. Slightly damaged species of grass have a lower intensity of photosynthe-
sis, greater water-holding capacity, and a greater quantity of free water. The
opposite is characteristic for severely damaged species.
3. For planting greenery in industrial sectors with fluorine emissions,
the following lawn grasses can be recommended:
a) for sectors with severe pollution: meadow fescue,
red fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass;
b) for sectors with little pollution: "regneria," Awnless
bromegrass, red top, and timothy grass.
-------
Literature
Gusev, N. A. Nekotorye metody issledovanlya vodnogo rezhima raeteniy.
L., Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1960.
Ivanov, L. A. Fiziologiya rasteniy. M.-L., Goslespumizdat, 1936.
Ivanov, L. A., N. L. Kossovich. Polevoy metod opredeleniya fotosinteza
v assimllyatsionnoy kolbe. -- Hot. Zh., 1946, 31, no. 5.
Kazantseva, E. N. 0 gazoustoychivosti nekotorykh gazonnikh trav. -- Bla-
goustroystovo gorodov, vip. 24. M.-L., 1963 (AKKh im. K. D. Pamfilova).
Krasinskiy, N. A. Teoreticheskie osnovy postroennya assortimentov gazoustoy-
chivykh rasteniy. — Dymoustoychivost' rasteniy i dymoustoychivye assort-
imenty, M.-Gork'kiy, 1950 (Gor'kovskiy gos. un-t i AKKh im. K.D. Pamfilova),
Maksimov, N. A. Vnutrennie faktory ustoychivosti. — Izbr. tr. po zasukhous-
toychivosti i zimostoykosti rasteniy, ch. II. M., Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1952.
Nikolaevskiy, V. S. 0 pokazatelyakh gazoustichivosti drevesnykh rasteniy.
— Tr. In-ta biologii UFAN SSSR, 1963, vip. 31.
Nichiporovich, A. A. 0 potere vody srezannymi rasteniyami v protsesse zav-
yadaniya. — Opytnaya agronomiya Yugo-Vostoka, 1926, 3, vip. 1.
Fortunatov, I. K. Kriticheskiy obzor amerikanskikh rabot po vliyaniyu pro-
mishlennykh dymov i gazov na lesa. — Dokl. TSKhA, 1958, vip. 36.
Thomas, M. D., and G. R. Hill. Relation of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere
to photosynthesis and respiration of alfalfa. -- Plant Physiology, 1937,
12, no. 2.
-------
RESISTANCE OF SOME GRASSES TO FLUORINE
E. N. Kazantseva.
K. D. Paafilov R«Maroh Institute of th» Ao»dt«y of Municipal Eoonogr
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody.
Rastitel1 nost1 i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prirody na
Urale. V (Sverdlovsk, 1966) p. 45-47.
Compared with sulfur dioxide, the fluorine compounds are appreciably
more toxic. One-tenth parts of fluorine per thousand million parts of air
will cause injury (Thomas, 1962). Fluorine concentrates on the periphery
of broad leaves and on the tips of narrow ones. Gas injury destroys the
pulp of the leaf and the chlorophyll, which is endowed with photodynamic
properties and controls oxidation. Thus, the normal life function of the
plant is damaged.
Recovery of the leaf after fluorine injury is slower than after a
sulfur dioxide injury. In 1962 we set up experiments for the study of
resistance to fluorine of some grasses for the purpose of selecting a gas-
resistant assortment. The experiments were set up at the Kamensk-Ural'skiy
aluminum plant in the Sverdlovsk region.
During the production of aluminum in the electrolyzer shops, fluorine
compounds (hydrogen fluoride and fluorides) are given off. The maximum
concentration of fluorine within a radius of 1 km. from the source of
pollution is 0.307 mg./m.^ and of S02 — 0.37 mg./m.^. Plants growing on
the territory of the mill are injured mostly by the fluorine discharged in
an adventitious manner, such as seepage through windows and cracks of the
shop. Therefore, the experimental plots were located near the electrolysis
shop where the concentration of fluorine was 0.612 mg./m.3 .
As control, similar plots were located in Sotsgorod, at a distance of
2000 m. from the source of pollution; the fluorine concentration there was
0.05 mp,./m.3 . The grass was sown in fertile soil and the species planted
were the following: meadow fescue, red fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, peren-
nial ryegrass, meadow foxtail, timothy grass, redtop, awnless bromegrass,
meadow brome, and roegneria. Detailed studies were undertaken with redtop
and meadow fescue. The study of both plots involved direct observations and
consideration of physiological indices. From the very beginning of the
experiment observations were recorded regarding damage to the leaves of the
cereals (in percentage of leaf area -- by the N. P. Krasinskiy method); the
plant height was recorded ( in cm.) in relation to the fluorine concentration;
the water retention ability of the leaves was studied by weighing at pre-
determined time intervals (by the A. A. Nichiporovich method, 1926); the
quantity of oxidizable substances (total, water-insoluble, and water-soluble
substances) was determined by the N. P. Krasinskiy method. The grasses were
studied in June, July, and August during the first and second year after
sowing. The development stages of the plant, fluorine concentration, and
-------
additional experiments were conducted In gas chambers. The plants were
fumigated for 8 hours with fluorine In a concentration of 0.8 and 0.03
mg./m.3 . The water retention capacity was determined by the A. A. Nlchi-
porovich method immediately following fumigation.
Leaf Injury was observed 3-4 weeks after seeding, and more severe
damage occurred toward the end of summer, in August. Burns appeared on the
leaves in the form of brown dots, spots, and streaks. The burn spread
toward the base of the leaf. The lower leaves died of Injury. The redtop
was injured most, while the meadow fescue suffered to a lesser extent (% of
leaf area):
First Year Second Year
6/25 7/26 8/25 5/15 8/25
Maadow fescue 10 20 30 5 25-30
Redtop 10 30 50 20 50
At the end of the growing period the injury to the meadow foxtail,
awnless bromegrass, meadow brome, and roegneria was 50-60%. The least
injury (25-35%) was noted in Kentucky bluegrass and red fescue. Compared
with the control plants, the plants grown on the plot at the aluminum mill
were smaller (cm.):
Experiment Control
6/26 7/25 8/25 6/25 7/25 8/25
Meadow fescue 12 15 25 15 25 35
Redtop 8 13 19 12 22 29
The redtop on the industrial plot began to head in July; this was not
the case with the control plant. Consequently, a greater gas concentration
accelerates the process of development of certain grasses.
A study of the water retention capacity in grasses subjected to the action
of fluorine on the industrial plot revealed an interconnection between the
water retention capacity and gas resistance. The species having the greater
water retention capacity were least injured by the gases. The water retention
capacity of the meadow fescue was greater than that of the redtop. The water
retention capacity of grasses grown on the industrial plot was lower than
that of the control plants (%).
Experiment Control
Month: VI VII VIII VIII
Meadow fescue 3.6 25 23 30
Redtop 1.6 11 9 18
When meadow fescue and redtop were fumigated with fluorine in gas chambers,
the water retention capacity of the former remained higher than that of redtop.
An increase in the concentration of fluorine (0.8 mg./m.3) acts as a depressant,
-------
and the water retention capacity of the plant at this concentration of
fluorine was lower than at 0.03 mg./m.3 . The experiments in fumigation
chambers confirmed the interdependence of the water retention capacity and
fluorine concentration as well as the specificity of plant species'
reaction to an 8 hour exposure to fumigation (%):
Fluorine concentration, mg./m.^
0.8 0.03
Meadow fescue
Redtop
8.8
0.5
21
3
Control
25
5
Determination of oxidizable substances in the cell content showed that
meadow fescue has the least amount of it, whereas redtop has the largest.
Toward the end of the season (August) the quantity of oxidizable substances
in grasses diminishes; more of it was in the control plants than in the plants
grown on the industrial plot (see following table).
Oxidizability of cell content in first year grasses in relation to
fluorine concentration, ml. of 0.1 N KMnO^ per 1 g. of raw sample.
Oxidizable
substances
Meadow fescue
June
July
August
Redtop
June
July
Augus t
Water insoluble
Water soluble
Total
Water insoluble
Water soluble
Total
Fluorine concentration 0.612 mg./m.^
3
8.5
11.5
6.5
4.0
10.5
3
3.5
6.5
7.5
10
17.5
7.5
5
12.5
Control
3.5
6.0
9.5
4
6
10
6.5
6.0
12.5
Consequently, fluorine compounds damage the leaves of grasses, stunt their
growth, lower their water retention capacity, and change the oxidizability
of their cell content. Plant species with the largest water retention capacity
and lowest oxidizability are more resistant to fluorine.
The grasses less affected by fluorine, namely, meadow fescue, red fescue,
and Kentucky bluegrass are recommended as suitable for planting in the industrial
areas having the highest concentration of fluorine.
-------
Literature
Barker, K., F. Kembi, E. Dzh. Ket-Kott i dr. Zagryaznenie atmosfernogo voz-
dukha. Zheneva, 1962 (Vsemirnaya organizatsiya zdravookhraneniya OON).
Krasinskiy, N. P. Dymoustoychivost' rasteniy i dymoustoychivye assortimenty.
M.- Gor'kiy, 1950 (Gor'kov. gos.un-t i AKKh im. K.D. Pamfilova).
Nichiporovich, A. A. 0 potere vody srezannymi chastyami rasteniy.- Opytnaya
agronomiya yugo-vostoka, 1926, t.3, vyp.l (Saratov).
Thomas, M. D. Vliyanie zagryazneniya atmosfernogo vozdukha na rasteniya.-
Zagryazneniya atmosfernogo vozdukha. Zheneva, 1962 (Vsemirnaya organi-
zatsiya zdravookhraneniya OON).
-------
MAKING A CITY VERDANT
B. V. Popov
HMOOT Suiituy*EpidtBiolagioal Station
From Peredovoy Opyt " Organizatsiya Zdravookhraneniya.
Sokolovskiy, M. S., Zh. L. Gabinova, B. V. Popov, and L. F. Kachor.
"Sanitarnaya Okhrana Atmosfernogo Vozdukha Moskvy"
(Is opytt raboty SanitunuMpideKLologiohtaakoi stintsil goroda loakvy)
Izdatel'stvo "Meditsina" (Moskva, 1965) p. 67-89.
It is well known that greenery plays an important role in improving the
microclimate and the hygienic conditions of urban areas. The popular saying
has it that green plantings are "oxygen factories" and "the lungs of the city".
In the course of their life processes, plants absorb carbon dioxide and
release oxygen. The leaves of trees and shrubs vaporize moisture, thereby
absorbing considerable quantities of heat. This phenomenon and the fact that
treetops retard and block direct sunrays cause a temperature differential of
3-5° C. in planted areas as compared with bare areas.
Green plantings also reduce the velocity of wind, which is particularly
noticeable in summer when the air in a forest or park is calm. This is the
very reason for planting forest belts in the steppe as protection against the
adverse effects of dry winds. As the velocity of air movement decreases, the
suspended dust contained in the air begins to settle down and the air becomes
clearer. It has been established that in parks and gardens located near in-
dustrial enterprises, the dust content in the air is reduced by 407o or better,
as compared with open spaces.
The dust settling out from the air is retained on leaves, trunks, branches
and twigs; the quantity of dust retained by leaves varies with the tree species.
Thus, elm leaves, having a rough surface, retain 6 times as much dust as the
smooth leaves of poplar, linden, and aspen.
f\
Dust retained on leaves in mg./tn of surface is given by the following
values: elm, 3.39; lilac, 1.61; linden, 1.32; maple, 1.05; and poplar, 0.55.
Considering the dust-protective effect of greenery, a suitable selection
of trees and their proper placement can bring about a considerable reduction
of dust in air over the residential areas. Green plantings are also important
in reducing city noises. Crowns of broad-leaf tree species absorb up to 20% of
incident sonic energy, and deflect and scatter another 74%. It has been estab-
lished that up to two meters from the surface noise intensity on a street of
multi-storied buildings and having no trees is 5 times higher than on a street
bordered with trees along the sidewalk. In gardens and parks, trees planted
in separate individual groups reduce noise more effectively than trees planted
in rows. Most effective in reducing noise are a combination of low growing trees
-------
having wide crowns and plantings of shrubery.
Until lately, vacant areas in Moscow were planted solidly, setting out on
the perimeter thick live green hedges consisting of two or three rows of shrubs
and trees of varying height. A different approach is now widely accepted in
which a prominent place is given also to lawns. This landscaping style is
pleasing to the eye, creating a perspective of plantings of various heights and
levels arranged on a greensward; they provide a simplicity of form in place of
the standard geometrically rigid configuration. Green plantings inside city
blocks are of great psychological and hygienic value. Man spends part of his
life amid the intrablock plantings, which are in a way an extension of his
living quarters, thereby bringing man and nature closer together„
It is considered best to transplant trees at the age of 8-11 years. In
order to allow trees to become well-established, they should be transplanted
5 years before the start of housing construction in an area. Actually, how-
ever, intrablock plantings are delayed to the last moment and undertaken only
before the housing is open for occupancy. Quite frequently, the landscaping
is done without previous planning and without participation of the designers
of the housing development. Furthermore, no representative of the city land-
scaping administration participates in accepting the finished housing project.
Regretably, the tendency to locate new housing in the most economical way
frequently results in encroaching upon the area designated £or home gardens. The
accepted principle that one third of city area should be devoted to green
plantings is not always followed. The landscaping is frequently conventional
and the work not always of good quality. According to official data, the loss
of trees in new plantings is 30-40%.
Poor maintenance of the new plantings also contributes to their loss.
Rotary snow plows and the use of salt for cleaning sidewalks affect adversely
green plantings. Snow sliding off the roofs frequently deforms tree crowns.
The city administration and the architectural and planning organizations
forget that a multi-story building can nowadays be erected within 2-3 months,
whereas it takes 15 years for the development of a full grown shade tree.
Frequently, when a plot is designated for construction, single trees and even
entire groves are cut down. Thus, according to the data of the Moscow forest-
park administration, 80,000 trees and 180,000 shrubs were cut down in the last
5 years in connection with building activity. This happens because of lax city
building codes. Here, it is appropriate to quote a remark in a Swedish journal,
which speaks of a single adult tree that was to have been destroyed on a building
plot. To save it, the architectural council decided to build a two-wing rather
than a three-wing house.
In cities the growth of the population outstrips the rate of green plantings.
Thus, the green area per city dweller does not increase but rather diminishes.
A similar situation, although to a lesser extent, prevails also in Moscow,
notwithstanding the increase of green areas from year to year. Thus, for example,
in 1959 an area of 380 ha. was planted, in 1960 an area of 480 ha. was planted,
-------
in 1961 the area planted was 655 ha., and in 1962 the area of 707 ha. was planted.
At the present time, the total land area of Moscow consists of 87.5 thousand ha.
of which 18.7 thousand ha. are planted to greenery. Great losses to new plant-
ings are due to poor maintenance and lack of protection. The community can and
should provide a greater help in this endeavor. True, that during the autumn
and spring planting, the community carries out a great deal of work. The
community contributed in 1959 1.3 million man-days for green plantings in Moscow.
In 1960, it donated 2 million; in 1961, 3.1 million; and In 1962, 3.7 million
man-days.
However, the community is little attracted to the subsequent care and
protection of the plantings. Thus, in Sverdlovsk a "green patrol" numbering
30,000 people (mostly children) was established to protect green plantings.
Single trees were assigned to individuals to take care of and to protect them.
The participation of school children in such work is essential, and yet, the
educational work to instill in children the love of nature is sadly lacking.
Children should be educated in the proper attitude to natural resources. Such
an attitude to nature must become an integral part of the moral code of the
builders of communism.
Up to the Great October Socialist Revolution, there were 833 ha. of park-
land for public use within the city limits of Moscow of that period. This
amounted to 9.1% of the total city area which consisted then of 9150 ha. The
per capita park area at that time was 5.9 m.2 (Sovremennoe khozyaystvo Moskvy,
1913).
At the present, the green planted area of the city is 18,700 ha. or 20% of
the total city area, and the per capita area is 18.5 m.2 . The distribution of
greenery in Moscow is unequal. In the center of the city, within the Sadovoe
Kol'tso, the per capita area is 0.84 m.2; in the area between the Sadovoe Kol'tso
and the circumferential railroad, 4.56 m.2; and in the area between the circum-
ferential railroad and the beltway, 8 m.2 .
Nor is the greenery distributed evenly among the city districts. Thus, in
the Bauman, Kirov, Frunze, and Sverdlov districts the per capita green area of
all kinds is only 2.5 m.2, whereas in the Kuybyshev, Pervomayskiy, Dzerzhinskiy,
and Kievskiy districts it comes to 62 m.2 . It is planned to expand the green
plantings of all kinds in 1980 to an area of 50 m.2 per each inhabitant of Moscow.
At the present time the green plantings in the city consist of 56 species of
which the birch makes up 24%; the linden, 23%; the poplar, 10%; the pine, 9%; and
the spruce, 1%.
All the large parks are located beyond the Sadvoe Kol'tso and are concentrated
mainly in the northeastern part of the city. In that part of the city are found
the Pokrovskiy-Streshnev Park, 140 ha.; Ostankino Park, 74 ha.; Sokol'niki Park
with its experimental forest resort, 700 ha.; and the Izmaylov Park, 1180 ha. In
the southwestern part of the city, the parks are concentrated predominantly along
the Moskva river: the Central Park of Culture and Rest, 105 ha.; Leninskie Gory
Park, 85 ha.; Fili-Kuntsev Park, 97 ha.; and the Khoroshev Serebryanyi Bor, 92 ha.
As a rule, the parks are well maintained in the central part. Because of consi-
derable air pollution and many visitors, the trees in the parks are weak and
diseased; they are also infested by pests because of the absence of birds.
-------
The average forest area per inhabitant of Greater Moscow is 92 m.2 or, sub-
tracting the area closed f.o the public, 89.4 m.2. Most of the forests are mixed.
Limited areas of deciduous forests in the Moscow district are formed in the
Ul'yanov section of the Moscow oblast' and of conifers, in the Balashikha section.
Among the conifers the pine predominates and among the deciduous, the birch. The
conditions of the forest vary: along with the healthy and robust forest-parks
(Krasnogorsk, Cherkizov) there are weak ones found particularly near industrial
enterprises and in areas most frequented by people. The basis of the city's
greenery are the large green plantings represented by the municipal parks.
These are distributed evenly in accordance with the planned zones between the
main traffic arteries.
The general municipal parks merge directly into forest-parks which, in
certain parts of the city, penetrate into it; otherwise they are connected to
the city by avenues, boulevards, and green strips.
New extensive plantings are projected in order to eliminate the existing
imbalance in the distribution of general city parks. The parks in the city
districts are a link in the greening of Moscow. They should be -evenly distrib-
uted throughout the city. The existing municipal parks (Pokrovskoe-Glebovo,
part of Izmaylov, Kuskovo and others) will henceforth serve city districts.
Of the green plantings designed for general use the ones nearest to the'in-
habitants are the neighborhood park-gardens, the so-called "micro-regional gardens",
The system of city greenery comprises various plantings such as those of court-
yards of houses, recreational facilities, schools, hospitals and medical estab-
lishments, around industrial and warehouse buildings, on city thoroughfares as
well as those of the sanitary shelter belts of industrial areas and other special
purpose greenery. Plans are made to establish municipal parks in the cities and
towns of the forest-park shelter belt. It is further planned to enlarge and
provide facilities in the parks of Lytkarino, Balashikha, Lyubertsy, and Mytish-
chi. Part of the planted area in the forest-park belt will be designated as game
and bird preserves. Along with their use for educational purposes, they are
needed for combatting forest pests that increased greatly because of the decrease
of the useful fauna (i.e., decrease of the pests' natural enemies seemingly as
a result of air pollution).
In order to determine the effects of gases on tree plantings under the envi-
ronmental conditions of Moscow and those of the forest-park protective belt, the
department of air hygiene carried out in 1959-1960 observations in the Izmaylov
Park of Culture and Rest, and in 1961-1962 in the forest-parks of the Moscow
suburbs (in the area known as "Podmoskov'e").
The conifers (pine, spruce, and fir) were most susceptible to the action of
atmospheric pollutants, and particularly to that of acid gases. Therefore, an
investigation was carried out concerning the effect of sulfur dioxide on the
coniferous plantings of Moscow and Moscow suburbs (Podmoskov'e) -- S02 having
a particularly adverse effect on the conifers.
Sulfur dioxide, a component of smoke gases, is discharged into the air all
over Moscow in larger or lesser concentrations, depending on the type, quantity,
-------
quality, and method of fuel combustion.
High concentrations of acid gases in the air cause great damage to vege-
tation by producing burns. Prolonged action of low concentrations cause chronic
damage to the physiological and biochemical processes of plants.
The destruction of old conifer stands is intimately connected with the
growth of the city and its encroachment on the surrounding forest areas.
The degree of air pollution of individual districts in large industrial
cities, among them Moscow, depends not only on the number of industrial enter-
prises and the volume of their discharges but also on the topography of the
district and the location of the enterprises in relation to the prevailing
winds, height of smoke stacks, and so on.
In Moscow, withering of pines occurs in Sokolniki and Izmaylov parks, in
the Pokrovskiy-Streshnev forest, in the experimental forest resort of the K. A.
Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, and in other places. A study of the injurious
effect of acid gases on conifers in the Izmaylov park was carried out in 1959 by
the division of air hygiene of the Sanitary-Epidemiological Station of Moscow
along with the 5th Aerial Forest Photo-Survey Expedition of the All-Union
"Lesprojekt" Association.
In 1958, the Izmaylov Park located in the eastern part of the Pervomayskiy
district of Moscow stretched over an area of 1180 ha., 709 of which were solidly
covered by forest. The rich, natural resources of this park made possible there
the existance of a diversified and a highly valuable assortment of trees -- an
assortment quite rare in the Moscow environs. Up to the thirties, the upper
story of the forest produced 1 and 1-a grades of timber of prime age (an average
of 108 years) with a density rule of 0.5. The second or middle story was made
up of broadleaf trees, predominantly linden (50-70 years old), as well as oak,
Norway maple, elm, and, in certain areas, birch.
The undergrowth, or lowest story, consisted of thickets of hazelnuts,
viburnum, elder, honeysuckle or woodbine, and others. The vitality of the plants
was high and no withering or weakening of trees could be seen.
In the early thirties, the city started encroaching on the park area from
the southwestern side, i.e., fxom the side of the prevailing winds. Housing
came nearer, large industrial enterprises sprung up near the park and close to
it. These caused air pollution over the park by acid smoke gases. It was then
that the withering of pines in the western part of the park set in. Coinciding
with the appearance of industrial enterprises in the Pervomayskiy and adjacent
districts, particularly with the construction of a thermal power station with a
126 m. high smokestack along with other power stations and industrial enterprises,
and with the corresponding growth of automotive traffic along the roads surround-
ing the park, the withering of pines grew at an alarming rate and spread over
ever larger areas from the southwest to the northeast, in the direction of the
prevailing winds. At the present, pines are to be found only in certain spots of
several northeast sections of the park. Figure 20 shows the decline in the number
of pines.
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1 - ana covered with pins tw.s in 1946; 2 - ditto in 1999*
The visible signs of pine withering are: dried-up crowns, thinning of
treetops, loss of normal color by needles, their shortened lifespan, and a
large number'of stunted barren cones. Observations showed that the lifespan
of pine needles does not exceed 2 years, and in most cases lasts only 1 year.
With the shortened lifespan, the increments in diameter and height declined.
Table 7 shows the diminishing decennial increment in height of pine trees
from 1870 on, determined in 1959 in one of the park areas.
It can also be seen in Table 7 that there is a clear break in the course of
the height of pine growth occurring in 1930, and similar changes with time up to
1930 and after 1930, are revealed by the analysis of increments of tree diameters
as well as in the nature of seed production of the pines within the area of the
park.
Table 7
Increment in height of pine trees
Age of trees, years
112
85
79
Meters of height increment per decades, m.
1870 - 1929
3.8
4.6
4.6
1930 - 1959
0.4
0.6
1.3
On the whole, air pollution by sulfur dioxide stunts tree growth and disturbs
seed production of trees. Gradually, the pines withered and died. This happened
mostly to older trees and to pines of single stage structure. Equally severely
affected by sulfur dioxide was the spruce and fir, i.e., species with perennial
-------
coniferous needles. In the area of the Izmaylov park pine stands of all ages
were damaged, regardless of the multistage structure of the forest.
In the 1959 inspection no widespread infestations by insects and disease
were found.
At the present, the pine in the upper story is replaced by broadleaf trees,
primarily linden.
Generally, deciduous trees are more gas-resistant than conifers.
The rapid replacement of pine stands by deciduous trees in the last 27 years
is seen from the records of the forest administration for 1931 and 1958, Table 8.
Table 8
Forest-park area distribution by species
Species
Pine
Fir
Oak
Birch
Other
1
Area, ha.
580
45
7
4
22
60
21
12
931
%
77.4
6.0
0.9
0.4
2.0
8.0
2.8
2.5
1
Area. ha.
74
1
22
89
288
154
29
52
958
%
10.4
0.1
3.1
12.5
40.9
21.7
4.0
7.3
Thus, in the last 27 years, the area in the park occupied by pines shrank
from 580 to 74 ha., while spruce and fir disappeared entirely. Simultaneously,
there is a sharp increase in the area occupied by linden, birch, and oak stands,
as well as by other deciduous species.
The average age of pines decreased to 90 years, according :to the forest
administration data (1958).
At the present, the basic component of the park are stands of linden with
an average age of 74 years. The growing of linden is not recommended because of
its low smoke resistance. According to the 1958 data of the forest management,
the linden stands everywhere in the park show signs of weakening, and in most of
the park area are of second-rate vitality.
Up to recently, air pollutants affected mostly the crown-tpps of pine stands.
After the destruction of the pines, the toxic substances in the air attacked the
stands of linden, particularly the peripheral parts of the crowns of the trees.
This explains the weakening in growth and vigor of the park linden.
To understand better the effect of air pollution on pine stands, a study
was carried out in the forest resort of the K. A. Timryazev Academy of Agriculture.
-------
Observations were made of the local soil conditions, forest valuation and the kind
of air pollution.
The forest resort embraces an area of 248.7 ha. The vegetation of this
area is made up predominantly of pines with an average age of 76 years. Here,
like in the Izmaylov Park, widespread withering of the pines started in the
thirties, with the approach of the city from the southwest. However, the broad-
leaf trees show no signs of weakening. True, there are no large-scale industrial
enterprises near the resort. The sources of air pollution are essentially the
railroad, house heating plants, and automotive transport. The visible signs of
poisoning are the same as in the pine stands of the Izmaylov Park. But here, the
drying up of pines did not spread over the entire area; the pines in the forest
resort died only in a wide strip at its southwestern edge and in narrow strips
along asphalt covered highways. In the center of the resort and on its northern
boundary the pines survived in good shape alone or mixed with deciduous species.
Records of air study carried out at the hospital in the Izmaylov Park for
1955-1961 show strong air pollution wi.th sulfur dioxide throughout the year,
Table 9.
Table 9
Air Pollution by sulfur dioxide in Izmaylov Park
Month
April
May
July
Maximal single concentration, mg/m3
1955
1.25
0.09
0.70
0.73
1.47
1956
1.20
1.62
1.64
1.91
0.54
1957
1.58
1.60
0.90
0.73
0.89
1958
2.45
0.80
0.54
0.63
0.86
1959
0.9
0.34
0.35
0.29
0.18
A decrease in the concentration of sulfur dioxide with the passage of years
is attributable to replacement in the industrial enterprises and in thermal power
station No. 11 of the Moscow coal by the low-sulfur Don coal, and still later by
gas. This change reduced the volume of sulfur dioxide vented into the air. In
1952, the thermal power station No. 11 discharged into the atmosphere 72,000 tons
of sulfur dioxide, in 1959, this was reduced to 25,000 tons, thus a reduction to
almost one-third.
The data in Table 9 refer to the growing season. In winter, autumn and
early spring, when the heating plants consume larger quantities of fuel, the
concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere was 2-3 times higher than
the ones given in the Table.
Such quantities of sulfur dioxide burn the needles of conifers completely
and irreversibly. The established maximum single concentration of sulfur dioxide
in the air is 0.5 mg./m.3 .
-------
There is no general agreement concerning the tolerance limits of sulfur
dioxide by plants. A spruce withstands sulfur dioxide concentrations from
0.09 to 0.2 mg./m.3 without noticeable injury. In 1955 the number of deter-
minations showing an excess over the allowable maximum concentration of sulfur
dioxide (0.5 mg./m. )—which in itself is considerably higher than tolerated
by spruce--amounted to 27.17.. In 1956, the number rose to 28.2%; in 1957,
to 29.27.; in 1958, it dropped to 18.77.; in 1959, to 6%; in 1960, to 4.57.; and
in 1961, to 3.87..
The sulfur dioxide content in the atmosphere of the forest resort of the
K. A. Timiryazev Academy of Agriculture differs greatly from the above. Spring
and summer observations in 1955 showed a sulfur dioxide concentration in most
of this area of 0.07 to 0.19 mg./m.3. Only in the southwest sections, near the
railroad line and apartment houses, the sulfur dioxide concentration reached
0.23-0.36 mg./m.3 . Nowhere on the territory of the resort did the concentra-
tion attain the permissible limits of 0.5 mg./m.3. Maximum one-time concen-
trations did not exceed 0.4 mg./m-*.
Thus, the difference in concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air over
the Izmaylov Park and over the forest resort is quite significant. It was
reflected in the degree of toxic effect and in the damage done to the trees in
these two heavily planted areas.
The above data on air pollution lead to the conclusion that in order to
preserve and restore the city and suburban forest-park stands of Moscow, the
concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air should not exceed 0.10-0.20 mg./m.3.
The effect of gases on conifer stands is demonstrated in the Izmaylov
Park. All other conditions being equal (soil moisture, excessive load of
visitors, stamping out of soil cover, poor maintenance, and so on), the larch
is doing quite well. The area occupied by larch increased 5.5 times and the
one occupied by linden, 13 times. However, the evergreen conifers perished.
Another investigation of the effect of air pollution by industrial discharges
on conifers was undertaken by the management of suburban Moscow forest-parks.
In 1961-1962, the forestry laboratory in cooperation with the department
of atmospheric air hygiene of the Sanitary-Epidemiological Station of Moscow
carried out a study on the condition of tree stands under air-pollution in an
air-polluted environment of the forest-park belt of Moscow. It was done under
the direction of the biologist, A. P. Shcherbakov (M.B.S.).
The major objective of this investigation was to prove experimentally the
adverse effect of gas and smoke pollutants, vented by industrial enterprises of
the city, on tree stands of the green belt.
The prevailing winds in suburban Moscow -- Podmoskov'e -- are from the west
to east and from southwest to northeast. Therefore, for the purpose of this
investigation, the areas selected comprised the forest-park enclaves in the
eastern part of the Moscow forest-park shelter belt: the Podmoskov'e, Mytishchi,
Balashikha, and Kuchino forest preserves. The control areas for this investi-
gation consisted of the forest preserves in the western part of the shelter
belt, in the Zvenigorod district: Khlyupino, Sharapovo, Stepanovo and Nikolina
Gora.
-------
In each of the selected areas were chosen 3 plots of 0.5 ha. each, with
appropriate stands of pine and spruce in barling stage (15-20 years old) and
maturing stage (60-80 years old) growing in soil with a similar grass cover.
The entire experimental work was conducted in these areas.
Laboratory studies of the atmospheric air of the plots under investigation
showed that in the eastern and northeastern sections of the green belt (Pod-
moskov'e, Mytishchi,1 Balashikha, and Kuchino) definite quantities of sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, chlorine and chlorides are present throughout the year.
In the western part of the city, that is, in the smoke-free sections of the
city, these pollutants were absent or present in insignificant quantities.
Table 10 gives the maximum concentrations of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides in the air of the eastern and western forest-park.
Table 10
Air Pollution in Moscow Forest-Parks in 1962
Maximal concentrations in mg./m.3
Location
Mytishchi
Kuchino
Khlyupino
Sulfur dioxide
Smoke-polluted Regions
0.3
1.1
0.3
0.9
Smoke -free Regions
Not found
Not found
Not found
Nitrogen Oxides
0.7
1.87
0.48
0.27
0.7
Not found
0.12
The high concentrations of nitrogen oxides and the absence of sulfur dioxide
in the air samples taken in Khlyupino Forest Preserve and Nikolina Gora is because
the samples were taken at the edge of the forest, next to the highway carrying
heavy traffic. The samples from Sharapovo, taken at a distance from a highway,
did not contain any nitrogen oxide.
Still more revealing were the analytical results obtained in a study of the
degree of rainwater pollution with greater industrial discharges and soluble
nitrogenous substances in the eastern areas of Moscow compared to the rainwater
of the non-polluted areas. The highest content of soluble and insoluble aerosols
was found in rainwater near Moscow (Podmoskov'e forest park). Less of it was
found in the Kuchino and Balashikha sections, followed by the Mytishchi forest-
park and by Zvenigorod section which contained the least soluble aerosols.
Assuming the quantity of aerosols found in atmospheric precipitation of
the Zvenigorod section to be 100, then in the Podmoskov'e forest-park it would
-------
be 1126 insoluble and 271, soluble; in the Balashikha and Kuchino district it
would be 495 and 253, respectively; and in the Mytishchi, 239 and 180, respect-
ively. The content of sulfates and chlorides in the atmospheric precipitation
of smoke-polluted sections was 3 to 4 times that of smoke-free sections. Thus,
the atmospheric precipitation falling on the soil acidifies the latter continu-
ously which in turn affects the soil balance and the growth of trees, Table 11.
Table 11
Atmospheric Air Pollution in Smoky Regions of Moscow's "Green Zone"
(Averages in mg. per cubic meter per day beginning
Location
Fodmoskov'e
Mytishchi
Nikolina Gora ....
Insoluable
Aerosols
428
188
91
38
Ash
287
108
56
16
Sulfates
217
181
135
57
Chlorides
13
9
5.5
4.8
The laboratory data on the air and rainwater pollution with injurious sub-
stances in the eastern part of the forest-park belt are in complete agreement
with the condition of the coniferous plantings found there.
Examination by foresters of the trees standing in the designated plots gave
the following results. The condition of the tree was defined as "dry", "half-
withered" (sick), and "healthy". The results are summarized in Table 12.
Table 12
Condition of Standing Timber in Areas in 1962
(In Percent)
Location
Mytishchi
Nikolina Gora
Condition of standin
Dry
Smoke -pollute
1.0
4.0
Smoke-free
1.0
1.0
Sick
d Regions
83
100
84
55
Regions
4.0
3.0
2.0
R timber
Healthy
17
15
41
96
96
97
100
The same holds true for the growth increment of pine and spruce stands.
for the period 1956-1961 are given in Table 13.
Data
-------
In each of the selected areas were chosen 3 plots of 0.5 ha. each, with
appropriate stands of pine and spruce in barling stage (15-20 years old) and
maturing stage (60-80 years old) growing in soil with a similar grass cover.
The entire experimental work was conducted in these areas.
Laboratory studies of the atmospheric air of the plots under investigation
showed that in the eastern and northeastern sections of the green belt (Pod-
moskov'e, Mytishchi, Balashikha, and Kuchino) definite quantities of sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, chlorine and chlorides are present throughout the year.
In the western part of the city, that is, in the smoke-free sections of the
city, these pollutants were absent or present in insignificant quantities.
Table 10 gives the maximum concentrations of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides in the air of the eastern and western forest-park.
Table 10
Air Pollution in Moscow Forest-Parks in 1962
Maximal concentrations in mg./m.3
Location
Podmoskov'e
Mytishchi
Khlyupino ,
Sharapovo .......
Nikolina Gora
Sulfur dioxide
Smoke-polluted Regions
0.3
1.1
0.3
0.9
Smoke -free Regions
Not found
Not found
Not found
Nitrogen Oxides
0.7
1.87
0.48
0.27
0.7
Not found
0.12
The high concentrations of nitrogen oxides and the absence of sulfur dioxide
in the air samples taken in Khlyupino Forest Preserve and Nikolina Gora is because
the samples were taken at the edge of the forest, next to the highway carrying
heavy traffic. The samples from Sharapovo, taken at a distance from a highway,
did not contain any nitrogen oxide.
Still more revealing were the analytical results obtained in a study of the
degree of rainwater pollution with greater industrial discharges and soluble
nitrogenous substances in the eastern areas of Moscow compared to the rainwater
of the non-polluted areas. The highest content of soluble and insoluble aerosols
was found in rainwater near Moscow (Podmoskov'e forest park). Less of it was
found in the Kuchino and Balashikha sections, followed by the Mytishchi forest-
park and by Zvenigorod section which contained the least soluble aerosols.
Assuming the quantity of aerosols found in atmospheric precipitation of
the Zvenigorod section to be 100, then in the Podmoskov'e forest-park it would
-------
be 1126 Insoluble and 271, soluble; In the Balashikha and Kuchino district it
would be 495 and 253, respectively; and in the Mytishchi, 239 and 180, respect-
ively. The content of sulfates and chlorides in the atmospheric precipitation
of smoke-polluted sections was 3 to 4 times that of smoke-free sections. Thus,
the atmospheric precipitation falling on the soil acidifies the latter continu-
ously which in turn affects the soil balance and the growth of trees, Table 11.
Table 11
Atmospheric Air Pollution in Smoky Regions of Moscow's "Green Zone"
(Averages in mg. per cubic meter per day beginning
Location
Podmoskov'e
Mytishchi
Nikolina Gora ....
Insoluable
Aerosols
428
188
91
38
Ash
287
108
56
16
Sulfates
217
181
135
57
Chlorides
13
9
5.5
4.8
The laboratory data on the air and rainwater pollution with injurious sub-
stances in the eastern part of the forest-park belt are in complete agreement
with the condition of the coniferous plantings found there.
Examination by foresters of the trees standing in the designated plots gave
the following results. The condition of the tree was defined as "dry", "half-
withered" (sick), and "healthy". The results are summarized in Table 12.
Table 12
Condition of Standing Timber in Areas in 1962
(In Percent)
Condition of standing timber
Location
Balashikha
Podmoskov'e
Mytishchi
Nikolina Gora
Dry
Smoke -pollute
1.0
4.0
Smoke- free
1.0
1.0
Sick
d Regions
83
100
84
55
legions
4.0
3 0
2 0
Healthy
17
15
41
96
96
97
100
The same holds true for the growth increment of pine and spruce stands.
for the period 1956-1961 are given in Table 13.
Data
-------
Table 13
Growth Increment of Pine and Spruce Stands in Centimeters Per Year
Location
Balashikha
(Spruce - 80 years) ....
Mytishchi
(Spruce - 73 years) ....
Sharapovo
(Spruce - 73 years) ....
Stepanovo
(Spruce - 73 years) ....
1956
3.2
4.5
25.0
1957
4.0
5.0
19.0
18.0
1958
3.6
4.6
16.6
20.7
1959
3.0
3.0
25.0
17.0
1960
3.5
2.4
20.8
16.0
1961
3.4
9.6
19.8
27.0
The A. P. Shcherbakov determination of sulfur and nitrogen contents in the
conifer needles of pine and spruce, and microbiological study of the soil in
the smoke-polluted and in the control sections of suburban Moscow show their
direct relation to the air pollution.
Pine and spruce needles in smoke-polluted forest-parks contained appreciably
more sulfur (% of dry weight) and less nitrogen (in mg./lOO needles) than the
needles in smoke-free sections. Correspondingly, the nitrogen and microorganism
content of the soil was lower in the smoke-polluted areas than in the control
areas. These conditions cannot be without effect on the nutrition and develop-
ment of the trees. Table 14.
Table 14
Sulfur and Nitrogen Content in Pine and Spruce Needles
and count of Micro-organisms in the soil (Averages)
Locations
Mytishchi
Podmoskov'e ....
Balashikha
Nikolina Gora . . .
% of S
on dry
weight
basis
Sprue
0.19
0.12
0.20
0.14
Pin
0.20
0.1
1.17
0.12
MG of N
per 100
needles
e - 80 years
5.2
5.7
5.5
7.1
e - 80 years
11
22
13.9
29.5
Thousands
of micro-
organisms
per 1 G of
dry soil
637
2002
••« M M
1209
1835
Region
Smoke -po 1 luted
Smoke— free
Smoke— polluted
Smoke — free
Smoke-polluted
Stnolf p — f Y*PP
Srtnlcp— r»o1 1iit*f*H
Smoke -free
-------
The air pollution of Moscow and its environs affects adversely not only the
leaves of trees but also their annual increment. The polluted air causes pre-
mature aging of the plant organism as a whole, shortens its life cycle, and
lowers the biological resistance of the trees to plant disease and insect pests.
The timber reserve declines, and its quality is lowered by one to two grades.
All this leads to a progressive destruction of pine and spruce stands, parti-
cularly in the eastern, northeastern, and southeastern sections of the Moscow
green belt. In these areas the annual removal of dry and diseased trees exceeds
the annual increment 3 to A times. The damaging effect of gases on conifers is
at its worst in the autumn and winter seasons. During the heating season, air
pollution by sulfur dioxide is more intense, and since sulfur dioxide is heavier
than air, it does not rise high but spreads over the ground.
Weather conditions may aggrevate the adverse effect of industrial smoke
and gases. Fog, dew, precipitation, and high relative humidity augment the
deleterious effect of pollutants on plants. In winter, products of incomplete
combustion combine with fog or dew droplets to form condensation nuclei in the
damp air hovering close to the ground. Taken singly, the various components
polluting the air (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide,-tars, and
others) are less injurious and less aggressive than their mixture. Fog con-
centrates all these substances, their effect is combined and their synergetic
action is more damaging to vegetation. Wind direction and intensity may also
affect the degree of damage of air pollutants on plants.
In examining the question of the effect of the injurious admixtures of
smoke and gases on vegetation, one must take into account the protective role
of green plantings blocking the penetration of polluted air downwind. The
results of the investigations of V. F. Dokuchaeva and others have been instru-
mental in recommending the establishment of plantings to serve as shelter belts
for the protection of forest stands of more valuable species against smoke and
noxious gases and for prevention of physiological injury to plants by mechanical
and chemical air pollutants. This effect appears twofold. Direct action of
gases on the assimilation apparatus of the leaves results from the adsorption of
sulfur dioxide through the stomata. This disturbs the assimilation of C02» lowers
photosynthesis, inactivates the iron in the chloroplasts, quite frequently
heightens respiration, the respiration coefficient exceeds 1, vitamin B is
destroyed, the protein and carbohydrate balance is disturbed, and silicic acid
and strontium accumulate in the leaves.
In the smoke-polluted sections of the Moscow forest-park belt, the coni-
ferous tree needles and buds are very sensitive to air pollution. In both,
in old and young trees, the absolute height of green and dry needles as well as
the length of the needles are reduced sharply. Also, the average linear incre-
ment of apex shoots and the average weight of terminal and lateral buds decreases,
all of which is, of course, related to the decline in the synthesizing activity
of the foliage and to the disturbance of the growth processes. Quite the opposite
occurs in the number of needles per unit length of shoot. The number of needles
per cm. length of annual growth was appreciably higher on trees growing in smoke-
polluted sections than on trees standing on smoke-free ground. The needles on
apical and lateral shoots appear broomlike and grow closely bunched and appre-
ciably shorter.
-------
Air pollutants reduce the number of healthy trees 6 times, the number of
dried-up and drying-up trees Increased 85 times, as compared with the trees
growing under conditions of pure air. The annual height increment for the
last 5 years declined by 13 to 73%. Concurrently with weakening and drying-up
of trees, there is the appearance of large numbers of various trunk-infesting
insect pests, while on control plots of spruce stands only single trees had
their trunks infested by insect pests ( one to two trees per 0.5 ha.).
Indirect action of smoke and noxious gases in the air is exerted through
the soil. Although the soil posseses a certain buffering action, yet systematic
and prolonged acidification of the soil shifts the direction of chemical pro-
cesses, its bases are depleted, soil gas-equilibrium and soil microbiological
activity is disturbed, soluble aluminum and strontium salts accumulate, all of
which upset the normal nutrition of plants. Ultimately, all the particles of
smoke, soot, dust, and gases polluting the air return to the soil. Some of
these, such as silicon, fluorine, lead, copper, zinc, chromium, strontium, and
others, in minute quantities are essential plant nutrients, although in large
quantities they are toxic. Heavy metals penetrate the soil down to 25 cm. The
soil absorbs enormous quantities of these substances.
The negative effect of chemical and mechanical air pollutants is more pro-
nounced in forest soils than in arable soils, notwithstanding the higher buffer-
ing effect and the higher raw humus content of the former. Tillable soils are
plowed and fertilized annually, and this counteracts the deleterious effect of
smoke-gases.
Different tree and shrub species exhibit differently their biological
resistance to chemical and mechanical air pollutants. Among the conifers, the
most resistant to air pollution is larch, which changes its needles annually.
It is followed by pine, which changes its needles every 2-3 yearst then by fir
changing its needles every 3-5 years, and last by spruce, which changes its
needles once in 7 years.
Some investigators classify woody species into 3 groups with regard to their
resistance to smoke-gases, namely: highly resistant, slightly susceptible, and
very susceptible. The criteria for this grouping are: premature dropping of
leaves or needles, the appearance of spots on leaves, baring of crown tops,
lowered resistance to insect pests, and the reduced annual increment both in
height and diameter.
The symptoms were utilized by us in determining the extent of injury caused
by smoke-gases to the growth of spruce and pine stands in the eastern sections of
the Moscow forest-park belt.
Work is being done on diagnostic procedures to permit determination of the
presence of noxious substances in the air from visible symptoms or by analyzing
the leaves (presence of 862 and wax). In some cases bio-indicators can be used
successfully: gladiolus, for the determination of fluorine; pine, a plant
capable of accumulating sulfates without signs of injury; bluegrass, a plant
sensitive to general air pollution by gases; sunflower and mazzard cherry, plants
sensitive to the presence of sulfur oxides in the air.
-------
In conclusion, it is necessary to point out possible .measures for increasing
the viability of tree stands in the eastern section of the Moscow forest-park
belt.
The literature often points to the possibility of the use of mineral
fertilizer for this purpose. Systematic application of mineral fertilizer —
and, primarily, calcareous and calcareous-magnesian (limestone, dolomite,
marl and others), combined with nitrates — to the soil in areas subjected to
the action of acid gases and smoke, may greatly improve the soil structure. A
recommended procedure is to apply in autumn lime, dolomite or marl 2 to 3 tons
per hectare once in 3 to 5 years. This is an effective and economically feasible
practice in forest-park management. It is also highly desirable to apply, every
other year, in springtime, 100 kg./ha. of ammonium nitrate. This application is
best cone by broadcasting and subsequent raking or hoeing. One may also resort to
spraying young trees with a 0.57. solution of urea - - a practice that will improve
the growth of the young trees.
The study on the effect of smoke-polluted air on conifer stands leads to
the conclusion that sulfur dioxide is destructive to coniferous trees. It is
evident that the limit of tolerance of sulfur dioxide by conifers is lower than
admissible by health standards. Apparently, it must be within the limits of
0.10-0.20 mg./m3 .
In order to alleviate the effect on green plantings of air polluted with
sulfur dioxide, it is recommended: (1) that the thermal power stations should
be removed outside the city, with due regard to prevailing winds, and (2) that
special agro-technical practices be adopted to counteract the injurious effect
of acid gases on the soil.
In afforestation of suburban areas subjected to industrial exhausts and,
particularly, to sulfur dioxide, it is advisable to establish complex plantings —
complex in form (multi-stage) and in composition (4-5 species) consisting of an
assortment of smoke-resistant trees and shrubs. It is also imperative to set out
forest shelter belts of gas-resistant species in order to provide protection to
the green plantings in parks and forest-parks from the injurious effects of
industry.
The Moscow Sanitary-Epidemiological Station deems it necessary to devise
standards for the protection of green plantings; namely:
a) to fix a single permissible concentration of atmospheric pollutants
safe for vegetation;
b) to establish a single classification of smoke-and gas-resistant trees,
shrubs, and flowers recommended for planting, depending on the chemical pollu-
tants in the air of inhabited localities;
c) to recommend procedures for combatting withering of conifers in city
parks and forest-parks listing agro-technical practices for improving the structure
and fertility of the soil, and for improving the vitality and productivity of
arboreal plantings; and
-------
These measure may greatly assist the practical work of architects, foresters,
forest managers, and those engaged in planning, planting, and the management of
greenery. A similar suggestion was submitted by the Moscow Sanitary-Epidemiolo-
gical Station to the central committee of the All Russian Society for the Pro-
tection of Nature and Green Plantings.
-------
URGENT QUESTIONS CONCERNING VERDANT PLANTINGS IN THE CITY OF BAKU.
A. G. Aliev.
igricuUural Council on Verdant Plantings in th« City of Baku.
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komis. po Okhrane Prirody. Raatitel'
nost1 i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana Prirody na Urale. V
(Sverdlovsk, 1966). p. 177-179.
As a result of many years of skillful selection and utilization of
drought-resistant woody and herbaceous ornamental plants, Baku has been
transformed into one of the most verdant cities of the Union. Visiting
guests admire the beauty of the city, its new buildings, and the many verdant
areas. However, the surroundings of Baku are endowed with many natural
advantages and these could benefit even more by additional plantings.
While the areas of verdant plantings are increased and the plant selection
enriched, the struggle must be continued against air pollution of the city
by various industrial wastes, such as noxious gases, smoke, dust, and the like.
Regretably, in the very center of Baku, many buildings (city hall, university,
Academy of sciences, Wedding Palace, and others) are still oil-heated and vent
enormous volumes of smoke and soot into the air.
The newspapers have frequently reported air pollution by pyrite cinders
from the Frunze sulfuric acid plant. Azerbaydzhan scientists have proved
time and again the possible use of this waste for the production of trace
elements as fertilizers which greatly improve the yield of wheat, cotton, and
other crops. Nonetheless, hundreds of tons of this valuable raw material are
carried daily to the dump. The fine caustic dust of pyrite cinders is blown
into the air even by slight breezes, and in Baku there are always strong winds.
Thus, a valuable raw material is lost for agriculture, and the air around
settled communities is contaminated.
In the spring-summer period the leaves and shoots of woody and herbaceous
plants turn gray and unsightly because of wind-carried dust and soot. Ash
particles accumulate in leaf stomata, interfering with the normal transpiration
of the plant, and the latter is then exposed to sunburns. The air under the
trees is dusty and breathing is difficult. In these conditions, the usefulness
of green plantings to man is greatly decreased. The flowers of shrubs and
herbaceous plants must be washed off by sprinkling in the early morning hours
or, preferably, in the evening. This removes the deleterious soot and dust
from the plants, moistens the air and the soil, thereby providing favorable
conditions for normal development of plants, while enriching the air with
water vapor and oxygen. This is especially important to the gardens and parks
of sanatoriums and rest homes where the sick and recuperating patients spend
their time in the shade of trees. In the Apsheron sanatoriums, the green
plantings are set in shallow soil (sand with underlaying limestone) and the
lack of irrigation retards plant growth and renders them less useful. Thought
should be given to additional water resources (wells, pumps) for irrigation of
plants around sanatoriums and rest homes (Mardakyany, Bil'gya, and others).
-------
Attention should be paid to verdant plantings on the ground of Baku
hospitals and to the maintenance of plantings already in existence. Greenery
near hospitals is of great health value. Flowers enliven the looks of the
establishment and are beneficial to the morale and psychological well-being
of the patients. Fruit trees, in addition to their decorative value, yield
fresh fruit for the fare of the patients.
The grounds of the Shikhov balneological spa (near the village of Khandar)
are in a very sorry state with respect to landscaping. Actually, there is no
area suitable for plantings. However, behind the hospital building there is a
large area of water that is linked to the sea and where small craft come for
repair. Part of this area, adjacent to the sanatorium, could be drained and
converted into a park for the patients. In large cities the norm of, green
plantings per person is calculated to be an area of 12-15 m.2 or more. In
Baku, in 1962, it was around 4.2 m.2 which is totally inadequate for the local
conditions of a dry and hot climate. Yet, there are architects who plan
verdant areas in Baku and consider possible lowering even this ratio.
The results of many years of phenological observations and studies of
biological and ecological characteristics of the major ornamental woody species
in the difficult conditions of Baku led to the conclusion that scarcity of
atmospheric precipitation and irrigation water, dryness of air and soil, in-
sufficient plant nutrition in the soil, high heat, excess sunlight, and frequent
strong winds weaken green plantings and cause premature leaf drop. If to this
be added air saturated with noxious gases and dust, and a soil contaminated
with industrial wastes, petroleum, and acids, it is clear that the area of
verdant plantings in Baku should not be decreased but rather increased.
Some specialists recommend the use of waste water for irrigation of street
plantings. True, waste water acts favorably during the first few years of
plant growth and development of trees, particularly conifers, such as pine,
cypress, oriental arborvitae, olive trees, Japanese privet, and others; waste
waters were also beneficial to vegetable and melon fields. However, this h£,s
its negative aspects as well. The use of waste water for irrigation of green
plantings near inhabited areas is undesirable for hygienic reasons: unpleasant
odor and a chance of spreading contagious diseases. Also, continuous use of
waste water for irrigation without dilution with fresh water over a period of
many years contaminates the soil, and eventually affects plants adversely. The
area of Akhmedlinsk plateau (the nursery of the Park Department of the Baku city
executive committee "Zelentrest Bakgorispolkom") may serve as an example.
The sewage from Shaumyan treatment station is essentially the waste from
petroleum, sulfuric acid, and other plants. According to data of the sanitation
and hygiene station, this water contains large quantities of alkalies, ammonia,
and chlorides, all injurious to plants. In summertime, the chloride content of
the sewage is 1288 mg./l. Thus, each irrigation brings into the soil around one
ton of chlorides per hectare. This is very injurious to plants, and gradually
causes salinization of the soil. The chlorides are especially injurious to
laurel cherry, pittosporum, roses, evergreen buckthorn, and others.
-------
A few words concerning the application of fertilizers to verdant plantings
may be desirable. Gardens, parks, squares, and other massive and street plant-
ings in Baku are almost never fertilized, whereas organic fertilizer in any
desirable quantity can be prepared from city refuse. It staggers the imagina-
tion what a wealth of organic matter is carriedjdaily .outside.the city and
burned. It is true that ashes could also be used as fertilizer; however,
in order to obtain a complete organic fertilizer, burning should be avoided
because useful organic substances are lost in this process.
The maintenance of city verdant plantings is also inadequate. The bio-
logical and ecological characteristics of the plants that require different
care are not taken into account. Pines and cypresses evaporate little moisture
compared with broadleaf trees.and shrubs, such as oriental plane tree, poplar,
ash, and others, and yet, they are irrigated alike.
Trees planted on streets are subject to more adverse environmental condi-
tions than trees growing in gardens and parks, and therefore should be cared
for differently. Yet, trees on streets are neither shaped nor pruned, and
thus age quickly and their tops wither (e.g. black locust, corkbark elm, and
others).
There exists in Baku for many years an agricultural council dealing with
problems of verdant plantings in urban areas. Among its members are highly
qualified landscape specialists representing various scientific and industrial
institutions. Regretably, many of the serious problems relative to verdant
plantings in the city, which are rightly the function of this council, are
never presented for its consideration but are carried out by administrative
procedure. Therefore, sometimes the work relating to verdant plantings is
carried out poorly. Further development of the program of making cities
verdant in Azerbaydzhan requires basic improvements in method of management
and the broadening of the relevant scientific research work.
-------
AN EXPERIMENT IN CREATING PROTECTIVE PLANTINGS IN THE CITY OF KRASNOURAL'SK
M. V. Bulgakov
Municipal Ptrtc Sendee of Kramoartl*ak
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Ural. Filial. Ural. Gos. Univ. Im. A. M. Gor'kogo. Okhrana
prirody na Urale (Sverdlovsk) 4:189-195, 1964.
Krasnoural'sk is a big center of copper smelting and chemical industry in
the Central Urals. The copper-smelt ing combine built in 1930 discharges into
the atmosphere appreciable volumes of sulfur dioxide and fluorine, both of which
are injurious to vegetation and man. During the existence of the smelter, sulfur
dioxide destroyed the natural forest situated nearby in the northeastern part of
the city. As a result of this loss of vegetation, the city became unattractive,
dingy and dusty. The concentration of noxious gases in the air exceeded the
permissible limits 8-10 times. The average number of gas-polluted days during
the growing season and during the year was 15 and 23 respectively. There were
no green plantings in the city. Attempts to make the city verdant through the
use of plant material introduced from the outside failed.
At that time, there was very little investigative work or practical exper-
ience dealing with the establishment of green plantings under such conditions.
The limited scientific data developed elsewhere concerning practices in other
cities were of little use under local conditions, and the usually recommended
assortment of gas-resistant plants were found to be unsuitable for this area.
The local unsanitary working and living conditions created a big turnover
of the labor force. Such was the situation in 1947 when our work, which aimed
to make this city green, was started.
The selection of trees and shrubs adapted to local environmental conditions
was our first problem. To this end, an arboreal nursery was established in 1939.
However, because of World War II, the work of the nursery could not continue and
did not actually begin till 1947. . . .*
Most of the seedlings in the nursery survived the war. This material was
utilised for planting some areas of Krasnoural'sk. In 1948 experiments were
started in various parts of the city with the aim of selecting a resistant
assortment of trees and shrubs. By 1955, after 6 years, we have arrived at
certain conclusions; the most important one being that only locally grown gas
resistant plant material should be used in city plantings.
We have established that the degree of gas resistance of a given arboreal
species is not a constant one: that gas resistance is likely to change, depending
on the locality where it was grown, the degree of exposure to gas pollution, and
* Editor's note: Ellipsis points indicate the omission of material not
relevant to the subject of air pollution.
-------
the effect of gas pollution on the seedling during the period of its growth and
development. The nearer the nursery was to the smelter and the more the seedlings
were exposed to gas, the greater was the gas resistance of the seedlings grown in
the nursery. Gas resistance tests were carried out in plots located 20 to 500 <
meters from the smelter.
A brief summary of the observations is given in Table 1.
7 species of trees and 11 species of shrubs were used.
In the experiments,
Table 1
Species
Apple tree
Aspen
Norway maple
Manchurian ash
Balsam poplar
Littls leaf linden
Birch
Number
of
trees
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
Numbei
peri
trees
—
2
3
5
8
24
29
• of trees
shed
%
«.
7
10
17
27
80
97
Condition of trees
Normal increment and
fruiting
Increment below contro
by 12-157.
Increment below contro
by 12-15%
Increment below contro
by 15-187o
Increment below contro
by 18-22%
Increment below contro
by 70%
Increment below contro
by 95%
The most gas-resistant species was found to be the apple tree, while birch
and linden were excluded from the assortment of plant species suitable for
planting under local environmental conditions.
Of the shrubs, the most resistant were: redhaw hawthorn, hedge cotoneaster,
common laurel cherry, common chokecherry, black currant, hairy lilac, and Tar-
tar honeysuckle. Most of the plants utilized for this experimental planting
were taken from nurseries in pther areas of the Sverdlovsk district.
The value of the local planting material became clear to us somewhat later,
after 1950, when we started extensive plantings along streets and in plazas, and
began laying out small gardens, municipal parks, and the like.
In 1953 we planted in a newly established city park plants of Siberian pea
shrub, some of which came from our own local nursery and some, from a nursery in
Nizhniy-Tagil. The planting was done late in fall. In the spring of 1954, after
leaves developed on the plants, the first wave of sulfur dioxide struck the plants.
The leaves on the pea shrub from Nizhniy-Tagil were severely injured, while the
leaves on plants from the local nursery remained normal in appearance.
-------
As was already pointed out, birch transplanted from the forest, where the
exposure to gas was small, perished almost entirely. In contrast, northeast of
the smelter, within a large wasteland, formed by discharges of industrial acid
waste and subject to constant gas pollution, on soils where even grass did not
grow, we found an area of about 90 hectares with thickets of 8 to 10-year-old,
well-developed birches, about 2 meters high and having thick green crowns. It is
our opinion that these birch trees grew from seed brought there from distant,
healthy, non-polluted forests; that, notwithstanding the unfavorable conditions,
the seed germinated; and that the seedlings grew and developed into trees because
as young plants they were able to adjust themselves easily to the new surroundings.
True, these plants have a very shallow root system located in the first 5 cm. of
the soil. Nonetheless, transplanted into the city, the birch takes root and grows
well.
We have developed an assortment of gas-resistant species for city plantings.
The trees of this assortment are: poplar, birch, cedar, larch, aspen, maple,
ash, elm, bird cherry, mountain ash, ornamental apple trees, pear trees, and
cherry trees. The shrubs of this assortment include: Siberian pea shrub, bar-
berry, elder, dogwood, woodbine, Juneberry, viburnum, hedge cotoneaster, hedge-
row rose, hairy lilac, Alpine currant, sweetbrier, redhaw hawthorn, and so on.
In this area, frost resistance of the plants is of very great importance and
this is especially true in reference to fruit-bearing plants. Spring frost coupled
with sharp diurnal changes of temperature and particularly, late May and July
frosts, affect adversely the plants during their period of blooming. Early autumn
frosts also have an adverse effect.
Following are the data of the metereological station of the Krasnoural'sk
Municipal Park Service of the first and last frost for the last 10 years.
Frost Data
Year
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
Late Spring
Date
18/V
29/V
1/VI
4/VI
25/VI
15/V
24 /V
30/V
16/VI
3/VI1
Temperature
in °C
-1.5
-1.5
-0.8
-5.6
-1.6
-0.0
-0.0
-2.0
-2.5
-0.0
Early Autumn
Date
7/IX
10/IX
2/IX
3/X
23/VIII
18/IX
26/VIII
11/IX
11/VIII
5/IX
Tempera-
ture in °C
-2.0
-0.7
-0.5
-0.6
-1.5
-1.1
-0.0
-1.5
-1.0
-1.0
Frost-free period
111 days
103 days
92 days
126 days
58 days
125 days
95 days
103 days
55 days
57 days
For this area the average summation of temperatures above 0°C. during the
growing season is 2134°; the total precipitation, 339 mm.; the yearly mean temper-
ature is 0.4°; and the duration of the growing season is 140 days.
The local average number of frost-free days for a period of 10 years was 92,
-------
late spring and early autumn frosts are very frequent, at which time the tempera-
ture nay fluctuate 15° C. or more, (Table 2).
Table 2
Infer at D»ily Spring felting* ud rmting* - - Tra-ytw
*rar
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
Much
l»«jd
rluotu-
•tlco»
14
5
4
3
16
4
4
9
10
14
fexl-
7.0
3.5
4
3
17.2
6,2
4,3
5
4
5.5
Mini-
5.0
13.5
19.5
8.3
16.1
11.1
8.5
10.1
14
17
April
If'J'
fluetUi
•tions
15
21
20
13
11
18
18
22
13
21
•wi-
mtm
5.0
11
10.3
9.8
19,5
10,2
19.5
4
8.5
12
Mini-
mm
10
4
6.4
8.1
2.8
15
5
6,4
3.5
6
May
!&•&
ttions
5
6
8
13
13
11
7
10
7
IS
Mui-
•m
5
20.5
7,0
7.5
14,5
10,5
16
13.8
43
15
Mini-
4,5
3
2
5,5
5.5
13,2
9
5
10
6
.«M
to»jt
Kioto-
•ilonc
—
—
1
2
1
—
—
—
3
5
»Uxi-
-
—
11
20
12,3
—
-
—
30
24
Mini-
mm
—
0,8
1,5
1,6
—
—
—
2.5
1
«•*
«p.pf
flwti-
•tlans
—
—
—
—
—
—
• —
3
1
Mwti-
•n
—
—
—
—
—
~
~ .
19,5
21
Mini-
—
—
—
—
• —
—
—
1
0
MaUi t*np*r»tar« flnotuttions givtn in °C.
Such temperature fluctuation within a day cannot remain harmless to plants;
it causes cell rupture of young bark and cambium. Bark burns are inevitable
under such conditions. The danger lies in the fact that during the blossoming
period such temperature fluctuations lead to the loss of the fruit buds.
Sharp, daily, temperature fluctuations and the low-minimum winter tempera-
tures (down to -46° C.) compel the search for new agro-technical methods to
develop a greater frost resistance in plants. We decided to change the agro-
technical procedures of raising plants and of their care, namely: by raising
the plants in the nursery under cold, spartan conditions, without irrigation and
application of fertilizers in order to render the plants hardy. The effective-
ness of this method of raising planting material is attested to by the successful
development of horticulture in our city. At the present, fruit-bearing plants
in our orchards do not suffer even when temperatures of -6° C. occur during
flowering. The new procedures of growing nursery stock have enabled us to
utilize a wide variety of plants for city plantings. Now, along with standard
-------
planting material we are also setting out larger stock, and even plant, during
summer, trees in full foliage. This enables us to accelerate the establishment
of green plantings in the city. The central downtown streets of the city became
completely green, with large shade trees and abundant shrubs and flowers. The
first lawns appeared in the city. Eleven squares, a boulevard, and a park were
laid out in the city. At the present, for each resident of the city there are
15 m.2 of green plantings for general use. This does not include the street
trees and the three collective and over 2000 private gardens of the city.
The city is completely transformed. One absent for 5 to 7 years will not
recognize the streets nor the plazas. The microclimate changed too; it became
milder; the air, cleaner; and the eyes feast on flowers and abundant greenery.
Even in winter the city looks dressed up. Our streets, boulevards, and squares
are teeming with leisurely walking and resting people, and are full of children.
True, sulfur dioxide still exerts its deleterious effect during easterly winds
but the greenery reduces sharply the effect. Labor turnover in the city also
decreased sharply.
The immediate task of the park service is to make Krasnoural'sk a garden
city, the most beautiful inhabited place in the Sverdlovsk district. The
foundation is ready -- a 55 hectare nursery, a stock garden, a plant-breeding
area, and a metereological statiori. The planting material is gas- and frost-
resistant, and have a well developed root system. Now we are setting out only
large-size trees and shrubs. There is a large demand for the planting material
of our municipal park service from other sections of our district -- the demand
testifies to the high quality of our planting stock. We are raising seedlings
for the city and breeding new fruit varieties. It is generally recognized by
experts that Krasnoural'sk is the cradle of the Ural plum.
Within the next two years will be completed the establishment of green
plantings on the city's last few wasteland areas and in the new housing develop-
ments. Much attention is now devoted to the establishment of lawns and flower
beds on streets, squares, and plazas. The local soil is heavily poisoned by
noxious gases from the smelter; we are thus compelled to create new soil and
fills enriched with humus and duff brought from areas beyond gas contamination.
The new fills are 20 cm. thick and the sheer volume of it slows down the plant-
ing work because each hectare of lawn requires 2000 m. of soil.
CONCLUSIONS
The city of Krasnoural'sk, which is subject to rather specific severe
local conditions for the establishment of green plants, has been transformed
into a green, wholesome, beautiful city with parks, squares, boulevards, and
green streets. We, who specialize in making cities verdant, are convinced by
our own experience that a city can be turned into a garden-city even under such
difficult conditions as our city presents. This confirms the fact that the
planting materials for gas-polluted areas should be exclusively local, raised
in the same noxious medium where they are to continue their growth, and raised
under rigorous, spartan conditions.
To make the city of Krasnoural'sk verdant took more than 20 years counting
-------
the time from the foundation of the nursery. The long period of time, which was
required to achieve the desired objective, is to some extent justified by the
enhanced stability, i.e., resistance to air pollution of the green plantings
of the city. To further the greening of Krasnoural'sk, it is very important
that the copper-smelting combine install new effective gas and dust purifiers
in order to reduce air pollution. This will enable us to enlarge greatly the
-------
TREES AND SHRUBS FOR MAKING THE DONETS COAL BASIN VERDANT
M. P. Voloshin
Central Republican Botanical Qaidm* Aoade«y of Science of the Ukraine S3?, Kiev
From Akad. Nauk SSSR Byulleten1 Glavnogo Botan. Sada. vip. 45, (Moskva, 1962)
p. 34-37.
The establishment of verdant plantings for general use in the Donets Coal
Basin was begun only after the Great October Socialist Revolution. These
plantings assumed an ever increasing importance by the end of the first Five-
Year Plan. At the beginning of the second Five-Year Plan (1933) the total
planted area of the Donets Coal Basin comprised 1,773 hectares, but at the end
of this five-year period, the planted area was already 4,143 hectares. During
the same period in a number of cities the area under plantings increased about
3 to 4 times. The green plantings began to spread at a particularly rapid
rate after the conclusion of World War II. Thus, specificially, in Donetsk in
I960, there were 9,514 hectares under verdant plantings for general use, not
counting 30 hectares under lawns and 13 hectares under flower gardens, which
amounts to 9.58 M^ of green plantings per person of the city population; at
the end of 1965, it has been planned, to have the planted area increase to
14 M^ per person. During the recent five years, in the Donets oblast' alone
(according to data of the Regional Department of Communal Economy for 1960)
42,980 hectares of green plantings were established. In the subsequent years,
the effort to establish verdant plantings will, according to plans, increase
considerably.
In 1960 the major green plantings of the cities and the workers settlements
in the Donets oblast1 were investigated. The area studied included the city of
Donetsk and Gorlovka (Figures 1 and 2)*, Nikitovka, Artemovsk, Ronstantinovka and
others. The plantings in these localities were studied in order to ascertain
the most promising species of trees and shrubs that have proved to be hardy under
local environmental conditions. The methods of investigation consisted of plant
inspection with checks on the plants' origin, their reaction to the conditions of
growth, the interrelations between various plant species in the plantings, as
well as in reference to the agro-technical care received. The ornamental aspects
or decorative characteristics of plant were judged according to their general
condition in relation to growing conditions and in .relation to their utilization
in various garden and park compositions. In characteristic environmental con-
ditions (good care; no care, etc.) single measurements were taken of yearly
growth, when necessary. The experience attained in park establishment was studied
in relation to natural conditions and in relation to the objectives and purpose of
the planting and the specific use of tree and shrub species in a given planting,
These show photographs of gardens which could not be reproduced in this
paper.
-------
as well as in relation to the time of the establishment of planting, and the
outstanding characteristics of its composition.
All together, in this 1960 study, there were recorded throughout the verdant
plantings of the cities and workers' villages of the oblast1 (excluding the
forest-type plantings of the Veliko-Apadola and Zhanovskoy experimental forest
stations) seven species of conifers, 64 species of deciduous tress, 44 species
of shrubs, and four species of liana while in 1940, the green plantings of the
same region contained only 28 species and forms of trees, 21 species of shrubs,
and two species of liana (according to A. G. Barbarich, 1940, "Ornamental
Plants of the Donbas," Botanical Journal. AN URSR 3-4).
The composition of plants in the populated areas of the region studied
consists chiefly of introduced species. Twenty-four species are related to
plants from the Euro-Siberian oblast'. Of these species, three species are
self-sown: black poplar, Populus nigra: Norway maple, Acer platanoides; and
Siberian pea-tree, Caragana arborescens,. Four species suffer from drought:
little-leaf and big-leaf linden, Tilia cordata and Tilia platvnhvllos: European
bird cherry, Prunus padus; and European mountain ash, Sorbus aucuparia.
Twenty-four of the introduced species are of North American origin and of
these the following are self-sown: black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia; box
elder, Acer negunjo; Canadian poplar, Populus balsamifera; green ash, Fraxinus
lanceolata. Two species, lilac-leaved catalpa, Catalpa sp.; and common
mahonia, Berberis sp.; suffer from frost; and eight species suffer from drought:
eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana; American arborvitae, Thuya occidental^;
catalpa sugar maple, Acer saccharum; European bird cherry, Padus sp. ; white
snowberry, Symphoricarpus sp.; Kentucky coffee tree, Gymnocladus capadensis:
butternut, Juglans cinerea; and lilac-leaved catalpa, Catalpa sp.
From the Crimea , the Caucasus, Asia Minor, and Southern Europe come 22
species, of which eight are self-sown: Scotch elm, Ulmus scabra; smooth-leaved
elm, Ulmus folios a; common or field maple, Acer campestre; Tartar maple, A.
Tataricum; European ash, Fraxinus excelsior; spindle tree, Euonymus europaea;
monoseed hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna; and dog rose, Rosa canina. One species
suffer from frost, English walnut, Juglans regia; and two suffer from drought,
silver linden, Tilia tormentosa and common mock orange, PhiladeIphus sp.
The plants of China and Japan are represented by 11 species, one of which is
self-sown, barbarian wolfberry, Lyeium sp. Six species suffer from frost: ori-
ental arborvitae, Thuya orientalis; tree of heaven, Ailanthus altissima; Japanese
pagoda tree or Chinese scholar tree, Sophora japonica; white mulberry, Morus alba;
fuzzy deutzia, Deutzia scabra; and Japanese quince, Chaenomeles iaponica. Two
species suffer from drought: oriental arborvitae Biota orientalis; and poly-
chromatic weigela, Diervilla sp.
Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia are represented by six species, one of
them is a self-sown species, Turkestan elm, Ulmus sp. One species, Lombardy
poplar, Populus pyramidalis, suffers from drought.
Of five Mediterranean species, two suffer from frost: golden-rain laburnum,
Cvtisus laburnum and Spanish broom, Spartium lunceum.
-------
The plants of the Balkan peninsula are represented by, two species:
common lilac. Syringa vulgaris and horse chestnut, Aesculus. spp. which suffer
noticeably from drought.
Two Far Eastern species, Amur cork tree, Phellodendron amurense and Manchur-
ian walnut, Juglans mandschurica. suffer noticeably from unsuitable environmental
conditions.
Of the plants from the southern European parts of the USSR, a widely spread
species is the pentandrous tamarisk, Tamarix sp. which suffers from drought and
gases.
From the 20 hybrid and garden types of plant species recorded in the oblast',
the most promising plants are: globular black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia;
variegated golden box elder, Acer negundo; silver maple, Acer sacharinuro; golden
maple, and purple sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus; Pissardo plum; weeping
European ash, Fraxinus excelsior; Van Gutta spiraea; a strain of rose; and others.
In the forest plantings of Veliko-Anadola and in the plots of the arboretum
and the plantings of the Zhdanovskoi experimental forest station are grown: 18
coniferous species and forms, 105 broad-leaved decidious trees, 74 strains of
shrubs and two species of liana. The following suffer from frost: oriental
arborvitae, Biota orientalis; tree of heaven, Ailanthus altissima; fig tree,
Ficus carica: Japanese pagoda tree, Sophora laponica; wild pistache, Pistacia
mutica; Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum: red, lilac-leaved, and Japanese catalpa,
paniculate"ke1'reytereya"; English walnut, Juglans regia: Japanese quince,
Cydonid japonica; common boxwood, Buscus sempervirens; pinnate bladdernut,
Staphylea sp; holly-leaved mahonia, Berberia sp.; weeping forsythia; golden-rain
laburnum, Cystisus laburnum; osage orange, Mac lure pomifera; and Babylonian
willow. The following suffer from drought: Colorado or white fir, Abies con-
color; oriental beech, Fagus orientalis; laurel oak, Quercus laurifolia; zelkva,
Zelkova Carpinifolia; Caucasus wing nut, Pterocarya sp.; horse chestnut, Aeaculus
spp.; yellow buckeye, Aesculus octandra, hickory pecan, Carva pecan; Chinese
catalpa, Catalpa ovata; American white wood, Liriodendron tulipifera; butternut,
Juglans cinera; Manchurian walnut, Juglans mandschurica; eastern Canadian spruce,
Picea canadensis; Norway spruce, Picea excelsa; and blue spruce, Picea pungens.
Self-sown plants are: black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia; Siberian pea tree, Cara-
gana arborescens; common and Turkestan elm; smooth-leaved elm, Ulmus foliacea;
Armenian elm, Ulmus elliptica; summer oak, Quercus sp;; black poplar, Populus
nigra; European ash, Fraxinus excelsior; green ash, Fraxinus lanceolate; Norway
maple, Acer platanoides; field or common maple, Acer campestre; Tartar maple,
Acer tataricum; box elder, Acer negundo; warty-barked spindle tree, Euonymus
verrucosa; spindle tree, Euonymus europaea; monoseeded hawthorn. Catreeus monogyna:
common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica; and cinnamon rose, Rosa cinnamomea.
The geographical origins of these plants are as follows: North America--
48 species and varieties; the Crimea, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and Southern
Europe—46 species; Euro-Siberian oblast'--36 species; China and Japan--17 species;
the Mediterranean--14 species; Central Asia, Iran, and Afganistan--12 species; the
Balkans--9 species; the Far East—7 species; the southeastern European parts of the
USSR—1 species; and, in addition, 9 hybrids and garden varieties.
-------
Of these plants, 21 species are self-sown, 17 species suffer from drought
and 21 species from frost.
Investigation has shown that the assortment of trees and shrubs which it
is possible to recommend for street planting in the towns and settled parts of
the Donets basin for the arrangement of gardens and parks, for making verdant
farmstead areas, as well as for planting alongside roads and planting live hedges,
differs little from the assortment, utilized for similar purposes in other steppe
districts of the left-bank of the Ukrainian SSR.
However, this does not apply to industrial territories. In areas producing
great amounts of smoke and gas, the assortment is limited to the following
species: common quince, Cydonia oblonga; black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia;
common privet, Ligustrum vulgare; crenulate and fuzzy deutzia, Dutzia scabra;
garden woodbine, Lonicera caprifolium; oleaster, Elaeagnus angustifolia; common
hoptree, Ptelea trifoliata; Japanese pagoda tree, Sophora laponica; eastern
poplar, Populus deltoides; white mulberry, Morus alba.
In areas of average and low smoke pollution it is possible to add to the
above list the following species: common apricot, Armeniaca vulgaris or Prunus
armenica; indigo bush, Amorpha fruticosa; spindle tree, Euonymus europaea; Turk-
estan elm; monoaeed hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna; English hawthorn, Crataegus
oxvacantha; silver hawthorn, Crataegus orientalis; Altai hawthorn, Crataegus
altaica; smooth-leaved elm, Ulmus foliacea; Mahaleb cherry, Prunus mahaleb;
common honey-locust, Gleditschia sp.; common pear, Pirus communia; white willow,
Salix alba; crack willow, Salix fragilis; common and Caucasian hackberry, Celtis
occidentalis or Celtis Caucasian; box elder, Acer negundo; holly-leaved mahonia,
Barberis sp.; ground cedar or common juniper, Juniperus communis; goldenrain
broom, Cytisus sp.; common box tree; bloody dogwood, Cornus sangvinea; common
lilac, Syringa vulgaris; Persian lilac, Syringa persica; sumac, Cotinus sp.;
common plum tree; golden current, Ribes aureum; Van Gutta spiraea, Spiraea sp.;
Chinese poplar, Populus simonii; pendulous forsythia; cinnamon rose, Rosa
cinnamomea; common crab-apple; and green ash, Fraxinus lanceolate.
For the planting of refuse dumps and waste piles, the following species
are recommended: black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia; Siberian acacia, Caragana
arborescens; common apricot, Armenica vulgaris; tree of heaven, Ailanthus al-
tissima; indigo bush, Amorpha fruiticosa; Turkestan elm; silver hawthorn,
Crataegus orientalis; monoseed hawthorn; Mahaleb cherry, Prunus mahaleb; smooth-
leaved elm, Ulmus foliacea; Tartar honeysuckle, Lonicera tatarica; box elder,
Acer negundo; common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica; oleaster, Elaeagnus angusti-
folia: common hoptree, Petlea trifoliata; oriental bladder senna, Colutea orientalis;
sumac, Cotinus sp.; golden currant, Ribes aureum; black cherry, Prunus serotina;
white mulberry, Morus alba; cinnamon rose, Rosa cinnamomea; and green ash, Fraxinus
lanceolata.
For planting on slopes and wasteland it is possible to make use of the follow-
ing species: black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia; indigo bush, Amorpha fruiticosa;
spindle tree, Euonvmus europaea; Turkestan elm; dwarf almond, Amvgdalus nana;
monoseed hawthorn, Cartaegus monogyna; silver hawthorn, Cartaegus orientalia;
-------
Bessey cherry, Prunus bessev; Mahaleb cherry, Prunus mahaleb; smooth-leaved elm,
Ulmus foliacea; silver "galemodendron"; box elder, Acer neaundo; common buck-
thorn, Rhmnus cathartica; oleaster, Elaeaenus anaustifolia: sea buckthorn,
Hlpppphae sp.; oriental bladder senna, Colutea orientalis; bloody dogwood,
Cornus sangvinea: sumac, Cotinus spij golden currant, Ribes aureum; eastern
poplar, Populus deltoides; green ash, Fraxinus lanceolate; and European ash,
Fraxinus excelsior.
For forest belts and green tracts around cities and workers' villages, the
principal species is the common oak, Quercus robur. The after-growth species
of this oak are: common apricot, Armenica vulgaris; Siberian pea tree, Cara-
gana arborescens; warty-barked spindle tree, Euonvmus verrucosa; spindle tree,
Euonymus europaea; Mahaleb cherry, Prunus mahaleb; common pear, Pyrus communis;
forest pear; Pyrus sp.; Tartar honeysuckle, Lonicera tatarica; oleaster,
Elaeagnus angustifolia: bloody dogwood, Cornus sangvinea; sumac, Cotinus sp.;
eastern poplar, Populus deltoides; green ash, Fraxinus lanceolate; and European
ash, Fraxinus excelsior.
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COM3INING PROTECTIVE AND ORNAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WOODY PLANTS
L. I. Vigorov
Ural PorvBtry Institute
From Akad. Nauk SSSR. Ural. Filial. Komts. po Okhrane Prirody. Rastitel'
nost1 i promyshlennye zagryazneniya. Okhrana prlrody na Urale. V (Sverd-
lovsk, 1966) p. 157-163.
In the planning of verdant plantings it is very desirable to combine the
ornamental properties of plants with their utility for man's health. In this
respect two groups of ornamental plants suggest themselves.
1. Fruit and berry trees and shrubs planted along streets and in parks.
2. Non-fruit bearing plants that contribute greatly to the improvement
of the surroundings.
The first group comprises ornamental apple and pear trees, bigfruit haw-
thorn and sweet mountain ash, chokeberry, sweetbrier, sea buckthorn, sweet
viburnums and other plants.
The second group includes trees and bushes that absorb from the air noxious
gases, carcinogenic substances, and radioactive dust. They strongly ionize the
air and emit a large quantity of salubrious substances, favorably affecting lung
tissue, blood vessels, and the nervous system of man. In the first group are
known species that combine ornamental characteristics and useful fruit; our
knowledge of the second group is rather scant. Frost resistance, gas resistance,
growth characteristics, and methods of propagation have been studied in wild
plants but of their contribution to man's health, very little is known. To
attain a greater understanding of this matter would require complex biochemical
and pharmacological investigations.
We shall briefly examine the potential usefulness of woody plants, comparing
their ornamental qualities and their specific effect on man's health.
The combination of ornamental properties and utility of fruit and berry
plants was hardly utilized at all. Horticultural plant breeders are primarily
interested in the quality of fruit. The crown of the tree interests them only
in relation to the ability to bear large crops but not for its ornamental pro-
perties. Landscape architects do not use fruit trees in parks and on avenues
because the trees are not sufficiently ornamental and because of the danger to
the trees from wanton fruit picking. Consequently, when fruit-bearing plants
are used on city streets, the plants are usually either small fruit of the
mulberry type in the southern parts of the country or the Siberean dwarf apples
in the north, or else, consist of the winter varieties of pears, of little
ornamental value, which are planted in Azerbaydzhan.
The absence of special selection has resulted in a dearth of fruit tree
forms that would combine high decorativeness and the value of fruit which are
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rich in bio-active substances vital to the health of man. Apple trees, having
a beautiful shape and bright red flowers, usually have no pendent crowns, and
f.heir frost-resistant varieties bear small fruit of indifferent taste. Haw-
thorn, bearing large fruit (of the type Rezan1 Michurina) bears fruit insuf-
ficiently sweet and has dull flowers, although small-fruit hawthorns that have
bright, fragrant, double flowers are known.
Apple trees with particularly ornamental fruit (Altayskiy golubok, Peplika
altayskaya, and others) have an insufficiently strong crown and easily breakable
branches, while varieties having pendent crowns (Zolotinka, Tungus) have un-
attractive looking fruit.
There are, however, apple trees as well as other fruit and berry plants
that have excellent ornamental characteristics. Through plant breeding and
selection, these ornamental characteristics could be combined with the bearing
of fruits of desirable size and taste.
Let us examine ornamental qualities of fruit-bearing species using the
apple tree as an example. Ornamental apple trees comprise at least twelve
groups, which upon hybridization are likely to produce plants with a most
interesting combination of qualities.
1. Dwarf bushlike crabapple varieties having a thick crown: pear-apple,
Toringo, Karlikovaya Dibrova, Kolyuchaya ULTI, Krasnolistnaya Budagovskogo.
2. Pyramidal and strongly growing arborescent apple varieties: Ural'skiy
krasnyy ranet, Sibirka No. 1, Moshchnaya, Gigantskaya, Alleynoe, Gigant Cher-
nenko, and others.
3. Pendent and semi-pendent crabapple varieties: low-growing seedlings
of pearleaf pendent crabapple, Dibrov's pendent redleaf, Tungus, Zolotinka,
Shatrovka, Elise Rathke seedlings and pendent trunk types, and others.
4. Colored-leaf apple varieties: seedlings of Niedzwetsky with red top,
varigated and golden leaves. Close to these are numerous varieties of apples
of which the leaves turn bright orange and red in autumn.
5. Apple varieties bearing ornamental blood-red or golden bright fruit, and
in some cases having also lacey crowns: Altayskiy golubok, Gorno-altay-skoe,
Pepinka altayskaya, Severyanka, Dolgo, and some others.
6. Winter-bearing apple varieties whose fruit remains on the branches during
the winter and which do not lose their ornamental aspects after leaf fall: Vish-
neyablonya Bedro and Zimuyushchaya Dibrova.
7. Long blooming (10-12 days) and remontant crabapple varieties: "Pozd-
notsvetushchaya", "Dvazdytsvetushchaya", and others.
8. Red-flowering crabapple varieties: seedlings of the varieties Komsom-
olets and Michurin's Krasnoznamennoe, which were obtained in various horticul-
tural stations.
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9. Double-flowered crabapple varieties described in the literature. In
the Urals these are represented by the half-double Siberian crabapple.
10. Naturally low-spreading crabapple varieties: Stlantsevaya Isaeva and
seedlings of Kur'yanova.
11. Crabapple trees whose fruit develops vegetatively through enlargement
of tips of shoots and buds. Vegetatively propagated apple varieties: Chulan-
ovka, Verbnoe, and crabapple trees having drooping shoots which attach themselves
to the soil.
12. Bitter-fruit crabapple varieties: Meretikov gray-pink, Bedro Seyanets
No. 14, Krutovskiy Chinese crab, Gor'kaya Krylova, and others.
The wild parents of the apple (common apple and Siberian crabapple), to
which explanatory inscriptions may be attached can be planted in parks. Equally
advisable is to plant apples of historic interest (from the Darwin orchard,
from the Ul'yanov orachard, etc.)
A survey of the ornamental types of apples shows the enormous possibilities
for improving this culture. No one can fail to be impressed at the sight of a
long-flowering pendulous apple tree having bright red double flowers, particu-
larly if the fruit is also tasty as well as decorative, as is the case with the
variety Altayskiy golubok....*
In producing ornamental apple trees special purposes can also be kept in
mind. For the purpose of verdant city plantings, it would be desirable to use
low-growing varieties having pliable, unbreakable branches and bearing large
fruit dropping off at maturity; this would prevent breakage of trees while
picking the fruit. Particularly valuable are apple varieties and other orna-
mental species that can be propagated by cuttings. Some other species have
also ornamental qualities which could be combined with the usefulness of their
fruit.
Among the pears are ornamental pyramidal (Kiparisovaya) varieties and
others bearing ornamental fruit. These are large, frost-resistant trees suitable
for street and park planting.
Mountain ash comprise varieties having leaves ranging from silvery to
golden colors, pendent or cupola-shaped crowns, and range from bushes to large
trees. Their fruit ranges from lemon-yellow and bright red to cherry-colored
and black (hybrids with chokeberry). Among the mountain ash are many varieties
bearing sweet fruit (Nevezhinskie, and the hybrids of Michurin, Petrova, and
* Editor's note: Ellipsis points indicate the omission of material dealing
primarily with medicinal properties of plants and consequently, not relevant to
the specific subject of air pollution.
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Tikhonova). They are readily propagated by grafting onto .the common bitter
mountain ash. The fruit of the sweet mountain ash abound in provitamin A
(carotene), P-active catechols, vitamins 89 and K, and the Nevezhinskie variety
contains also vitamin C. The chokeberry too is very ornamental, both in spring,
during blooming and in autumn because of the red leaves and bunches of black
fruit....* Of special interest are varieties having a small number of stems
and the hybrids of chokeberry and mountain ash (Burka Michurina). The grafts
of chokeberry onto the crown of wild mountain ash develop into ornamental trees
and bear early fruit of economic value.
The ornamental qualities of viburnum can be enhanced by crossing with
large-flower varieties and its utility to man can be increased by using sweet
fruit varieties rich in vitamin P and C. Widespread use of viburnum fruit by
the population of the Urals and Siberia underscores the importance of this task.
Of interest are the big-fruit varieties of hawthorn, bearing fruit up to
3 cm. long....* The ornamental aspects of the hawthorn are because of the red-
flower and double-flower varieties.
The ornamental values of the sea buckthorn have been noticed many times.
Its slow growth in the podzolic soils of the Urals and frost susceptibility
make necessary the breeding of vigorously growing arborescent plants from the
frost-resistant Sayan ecotype, adjusted to local conditions. It is of interest
to search for a monoecious sea buckthorn because the non-bearing male trees ar*
of little ornamental value.
Sweetbriers are outstandingly ornamental and have a high vitamin content.
Breeding of sweetbriers for high vitamin content is carried on by a number of
institutions without regard to the ornamental properties of the plants. It is
interesting to combine in a sweet brier vigorous growth, frost-resistance,
large fruit, and ornamental properties. In this respect the double-flower
varieties of the hedgerow rose as well as the northern double roses suitable
for growing in open areas are of interest. Crossing these varieties with the
yellow-flower or redleaf roses as well as with the high-vitamin sweetbrier of
the E. M. Stepanova breeding can yield excellent plants combining beauty with
exceptional usefulness of its fruit, rich in carotene, vitamin C, P-active
flavones, and other valuable substances.
Also, of definite interest are gooseberries, e. p,. tall-growing Chernyy
Negus, Varshavskyy shtambovyy, as well as Kryzhovnik uzkoplodnyy and Seyanets
altayskiy 55-44-1.
Of black currants, Doch'Altaya distinguished by strong bushes, is also of
interest....*
While the gas resistance of the various tree species is known quite well,
information concerning species that absorb large quantities of poisonous sub-
stances is very limited. There is practically no work extant comparing the
rate of removal from the air of carbon monoxide and carcinogens by leaves of
various species. The question of dust retention is in a similar state. Even
* See previous footnote.
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though dust-resistant varieties are known, the capacity of their leaves to fix
the dust and the consequences of it for man are not clear. It is unknown what
is preferable: to plant varieties whose leaves do not fix injurious substances
or, conversely, do fix such substances and make it possible later to remove
them from the city along with the dropped leaves.
In 1962 the plant physiology laboratory of the ULTI began comparative
studies of absorption of various poisons from the air by leaves of a number
of tree species, and particularly by the ornamental fruit tree varieties
previously discussed. It came to light that even among the apple varieties
there are some that absorb 2-3 times as much as the ornamental apple tree.
However, there too their effect of plants on the surrounding air does not solve
the problem.
At present it is difficult to predict the period of time during which
pollution of city air by various poisonous substances will continue. Indeed,
an increase in the chemization of the national economy may increase pollution.
Developments in the technology of freeing industrial gases of poisonous
substances will result in the fact that the absorptive activity of plants and
their gas resistance will have no material significance. Of greater importance
is the capacity of plants to exude through leaves, flowers, and bark volatile
substances beneficial to man and capable of ionizing the air. The effect of
plants on the chemical composition of the atmosphere is vastly more complicated
than it was assumed to be. The utility of plants is ordinarily evaluated by
their exudation of phytoneides, which are lethal to bacteria and also are
insect repellents. However, exudation of phytoneides cannot be accepted as a
measure of the utility of a plant species. Thus, one of the most phytoncidic
species is the common laurel cherry, common chokeberry, and pin cherry. Their
phytoncidity is due to the exudation by their leaves of a large quantity of
hydrocyanic acid and the strong poison can hardly be called beneficial to man.
Most of the other phytoncides are poisonous both to bacteria and man. The
more phytoncidic is a tree, the more dangerous it can be to man. Here should
be pointed out various cases of allergy (hay fever) caused by various volatile
plant substances absorbed by lung tissue or skin of man. The question of free-
ing the air of bacteria by phytoncides needs to be reviewed because of the
toxicity of some disinfectants.
The giving off of volatile substances by trees and shrubs is noticed from
the aroma during blooming of apple trees or sweetbrier, by the balsam aroma
during the opening of poplar leaves or the essential oil scent during the frond-
escence of black currant bushes and others. However, the action of these vola-
tile substances on lung tissue and the nervous system of man and the way in
which it affects his well-being and health is little known in contemporary
medicine....*
The effect of some plants is harmful, e.g.. man is poisoned by the volatile
exudation of azalea flowers, or the leaves of walnut (juglon acts narcotically
or causes headache). On the other hand, the soothing action on the heart of
inhaled camphor oil is well known.
• See previous footnote.
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The rapidity with which alkaloids (nicotine) or narcotics (hashish, opium)
act when smoked is a good example of the brain's reaction to substances inhaled
by the lungs.
The use of inhalation in lung disorders and the widespread use of essential
oils (turpentine, mint and pine oils, anise drops, and the like) as popular
remedies in treating colds are examples of the application of phytopharms. With
each breath, in addition to oxygen and inert gases, we inhale many other sub-
stances which are absorbed by the organism and affect it in turn. Unfortunately,
for the present, this refers predominantly to the toxic substances in the air ami
it should be the aim to replace them completely with beneficial substances.
Until man can artificially make up the air composition to suit best his needs,
the only means for changing the surrounding atmosphere is to enrich it with
beneficial substances given off by plants.
Thus, the scientist is faced with a biological problem whose importance
is magnified by its significance for the health and longevity of all mankind
inhabiting the earth. Even in our northern latitudes we are subjected to the
action of various plant exudations for half a year, i.e., for as long as there
are leaves, and yet we know almost nothing about these substances nor how they
affect our organism. It is quite possible that in its significance for mankind
this factor (particularly if it be connected with life extension) does not yield
in importance to the role of vitamins in our nutrition.
For the present, the verdant plantings are uniformly monotonous. In the
Urals 75% of trees and shrubs in the cities are made up of poplar, maple,
acacia, linden, and ash. But even for these few plants we have no data on
the intensity and composition of their exuded essential oils, even though there
are data on their phytoncidic action.
The matter of phytopharms is important for flowering plants growing on
streets as well as kept indoors. Among the latter are frequently found those
producing essential oils (lemon, gold raintree, coleus, geranium, arborvitae,
and others) that affect us daily in a manner as yet unknown to us. Of consi-
derable significance would be an increase in the air ionization, caused by some
plants (Minkh, 1963), and an increase of ozone content of the air, as noticed,
for example, with the coniferous species.
The use of beautiful plants beneficial to man's health in verdant plantings
will signify a new era in ornamental tree growing.
Literature.
Vigorov, L. I. Vitaminy ural'skikh plodovo-yagodnykh rasteniy i profilaktika
zabolevaniy cheloveka, svyazannykh s promyshlennymi zagryazneniyami pri-
rody. Okhrana Prirody na Urale. IV. Rastitel'nost' i promyshlennye
zagryazneniya. Sverdlovsk, 1964 (UFAN SSSR i Ur.gos.un-t).
Minkh, A. A. lonizatsiya vozdukha i ee gigienicheskoe znachenie. M., Gos-
medizdat, 1963.
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