Water deficiency of little-leaf linden poly-metallic contamination

Abstract

A high level of environmental pollution identifies Sterlitamak industrial center (PreUral, Russia). Among human-made emissions, particulate matter (including heavy metals), nitrogen dioxide, ammonia and formaldehyde dominate. We studied the water regime of little-leaf linden (Tilia cordata Mill.) trees in habitats with diverse pollution levels from 2010 to 2018. There have been significant changes in the indicators of water deficiency of linden leaves under pollution conditions. Regardless of the category of life state, the linden trees had a slight water deficit under control, while the healthy and weakened linden trees had a high-water deficit under pollution conditions. The results point that under polluted conditions, as the temperature increases and the air’s relative humidity decreases, the water consumption of linden leaves increases. The maximum water deficiency is in the daytime (13-15 hours). At night, the flow of water is not covered by the inflow, so the following day, the morning begins with some water lack. Thus, in a polluted environment, significant changes in the water deficit of the linden trees are associated with reduced soil moisture, increased transpiration, and worsened of stand life states.