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Traffic pollution affects tree-ring width and isotopic composition of Pinus pinea.
Journal article

Traffic pollution affects tree-ring width and isotopic composition of Pinus pinea.

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  • 2009-10-27
Published in:
  • The Science of the total environment. - 2010
Carbon Isotopes
Cities
Climate
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollution
Geography
Isotopes
Italy
Nitrogen Isotopes
Pinus
Plant Stems
Temperature
Time Factors
Vehicle Emissions
English This study presents new evidence that radiocarbon, combined with dendrochronological and stable isotopes analysis in tree rings and needles, can help to better understand the influence of pollution on trees. Pinus pinea individuals, adjacent to main roads in the urban area of Caserta (South Italy) and exposed to large amounts of traffic exhaust since 1980, were sampled and the time-related trend in the growth residuals was estimated. We found a consistent decrease in the ring width starting from 1980, with a slight increase in delta(13)C value, which was considered to be a consequence of environmental stress. No clear pattern was identified in delta(15)N, while an increasing effect of the fossil fuel dilution on the atmospheric bomb-enriched (14)C background was detected in tree rings, possibly as a consequence of the increase in traffic exhausts. Our findings suggested that radiocarbon is a very sensitive tool to investigate small-scale (i.e. traffic exhaust at the level crossing) and large-scale (urban area pollution) induced disturbances.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/278921
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