Air Pollution Investigated by Fluctuating Asymmetry of Leaves

Air pollution is an increasing threat in urban as well as rural areas. Particularly, motor vehicles and their exhaust gases cause considerable health risks. In addition to traditional air monitoring, we propose a new method by investigating morphological changes of leaves coming from trees that are located near streets or roads. Shape changes were measured by computing the already established fluctuating asymmetry index. Results of this study indicate that although air pollution may be lower in rural areas, the influence to the ecosystem can be quite comparable to urban areas.