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SOME PRELIMINARY
STUDIES ON PLANTS AND POLLUTANT LEVELS ALONG PINDI BHATTIAN-FAISALABAD
MOTORWAY (M-3) (PAKISTAN)
KHALID FAROOQ AKBAR1, SABAH MAQBOOL1, IFFAT ASHRAF1, TARIQ MAHMOOD ANSARI2*
AND SHEIKH SAEED AHMAD3*
Abstract:
The roadside verges of
M-3 were surveyed to investigate their floristic composition and the
levels of heavy metals in their soils. For this purpose, the floristic
data from 102 quadrats, each 1x2 m in size were collected and their
associated soils were analyzed for total lead, cadmium, copper,
manganese, iron and zinc. These quadrats were distributed on three zones
(border, verge, and fence) within the M-3 verges. Fifty eight plant
species were recorded. By considering their frequency and abundance
values, Cynodon dactylon, Anagallis arvensis, Imperata
cylindrica, Trifolium alexandrianum and Sonchus oleracea
were the most frequent and abundant species of M-3. The mean
concentrations of total Cu, Cd, Zn, Mn, Pb and Fe in the roadside soils
of M-3 were 14.0 µgg-1, 1.8 µgg-1, 43.4 µgg-1,
336.1 µgg-1, 43.2 µgg-1 and 683.1 µgg-1
respectively. By comparing these values with their standard toxic
levels, these soils can be considered as non-contaminated.
1Department of Botany, Government Postgraduate College, Sahiwal, Pakistan.
2Department of Chemistry, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan,
3Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University,
Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Pakistan.
*Corresponding author
E-mail: kezmh@yahoo.com
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