In the present paper, the effect of urban roadside air pollution on the epiphytic micro flora was studied on three most common plants of urban area i.e. Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis and Anthocephalus cadamba at Kolkata. The increasing rate of vehicles day by day simultaneously increases the pollution level in air and the dust settled down on the phylloplane of those plants. In this study, samples were collected from Dunlop (direct roadside) and Rajarhat (from at least 500-750 meter away from direct roadside or non-roadside sites).Results showed a marked reduction of the microbial count on the roadside environment than the nonroadside environment. Bacterial and fungal population was higher on the low polluted site. Analysis of four different trace metals was carried out from the phylloplane of the aforesaid trees. Correlation coefficient showed significant reduction of microbial community in Dunlop due to the higher concentration of lead, zinc, copper and Cadmium. Presence of traffic generated pollutant might be a cause of decrease in growth for microbes.Aspergillusochraceus,Penicilliumfrequentaus, Trichodermaviridewere the most abundant species in roadside environment, whereas absence of fungi like Penicilliumcitrinum, Aspergillusnigerwere observed in roadside environment. The deviation of fungal population diversity might be occurred due to its sensitivity or resistance to the pollutants with those fungi.

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U.K. Mukhopadhyay

Papers

Effects of Re-suspended Roadside Dusts and Its Elemental Constituents on the Phylloplane Microflora