Investigation of Dust Deposition in Vegetation Period as an Ecological Service on Urban Trees in Budapest—A Case Study

Abstract

In this article, we investigated the dust deposit on leaves in the vegetation period of urban trees using a simple washing method. The data presented in this paper are preliminary results. Air pollution and the area and population of cities are increasing. The EU directives require the reduction and maintenance of air pollution. Trees have many ecological services, including the dust removal capacity. We investigated four urban tree species (Acer platanoides L., Fraxinus excelsior L., Tilia tomentosa Moench., and Prunus cerasifera L. ‘Woodii’) in many locations in Budapest. After collection, the leaves were washed with distillated water, which was eliminated in a drying chamber, and then the dust was measured back into the beakers. Microscopical photos were taken of each leaf’s surface. We found differences among species and seasons, which confirmed previous studies. Examining the data by location, we found no difference in dust deposition, unlike previous results. The dust deposition for Tilia tomentosa Moench. is between 48 and 295 mg/m2; for Fraxinus excelsior L., between 47 and 205 mg/m2; and for Acer platanoides L., between 110 and 500 mg/m2. No relevant data were found for Prunus cerasifera ‘Woodii’ (between 426 and 492 mg/m2) due to its exposed location. New data were obtained in Budapest for the dust deposition of the ‘Woodii’ variety. We partially confirmed or provided new results by examining the dust deposition capacities of urban trees. The leaf surface structure of the examined trees is supposedly a typical cause of dust deposit differences.

Keywords

• urban trees
• airborne dust
• TSPs (total suspended particulates)
• ecological services of trees
• dust deposition rate