EVALUATION OF AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX (APTI) OF PLANT SPECIES COMMONLY FOUND IN ILOILO CITY

A Research Proposal Presented to the Faculty of the Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in SCIENCE RESEARCH 2

by

Ellen Grace L. Belasa Floredith Ann P. Tan Fourth Year - Photon

March 2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to those who supported us throughout our research journey. To our dearest research adviser, Mrs. Mialo Bautista, thank you for your forbearance and patience. Thank you for motivating us to do our best and for your honest advices. Research would never have been easy without you. To Mr. Harold Mediodia, thank you so much for suggesting our most recent research topic. If not for you, we would never have finished our research journey. Thank you so much Sir! To the rest of the research teachers, Mr. Edward Albaracin, Mr. Joseph Simon Madrian, and Ms. Erika Eunice Salvador, we thank you all for helping and guiding us. To Mrs. Leilani Estilo and Mr. Rusty Balcoba, thank you for your kind services. Maam Lani, we thank you for your patience when we kept coming back to your office to request for chemicals and to use the equipment. Sir Rusty, thank you for the never-ending supply of requests and permits you have generously given us and for your patience when we kept on borrowing some equipment. We also thank our dearest parents for believing in us, for giving us all the love and support we need, for financing our research, and for being there for us when we needed them the most. To our beloved classmates and friends, we thank you so much for the love and support that you gave us. Thank you so much for helping and motivating us to finish our research journey. We salute you all! Krista Ysabel Palma, thank you for believing us. Research would be so much better with you! We would not achieve all of these if not for the God Almighty. We thank you Lord for everything that you have given us. Thank you for Your love and mercy, for the blessings we always receive and for giving us the ever-supportive parents, teachers, friends and classmates.

Evaluation of Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of Plant Species Commonly Found in Iloilo City Belasa E.G.L., Tan F.A.P. Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus, Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City ellen.belasa@gmail.com; poy_tan14@yahoo.com Air pollution tolerance index (APTI) is used to determine plant species that are tolerant to air pollution. Plant species with APTI value less than 16 is considered sensitive to air pollution; APTI value that ranges from 17 to 29 is considered intermediate and greater than 30 is tolerant to air pollution. Several contributors agree that air pollution affects plant growth adeversely. Plants are an integral basis for all ecosystems and most likely to be affected by airborne pollution and are the most potential to receive impacts from ambient air pollution. Biomonitoring of plants is an important tool to evaluate the impact of air pollution. Air pollution is the introduction to the atmosphere of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans and other living organism, or cause damage to the environment. Iloilo City has been industrializing for years and as an effect, the air around this area becomes more and more polluted. This study aimed to determine the air pollution tolerance index of three plant species (Ixora coccinea, Swietenia macrophylla, Bougainvillea spectabilis) commonly found in the polluted and unpolluted areas of Iloilo City. Leaf samples were taken from Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus and Barangay Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo City. Plants were randomly selected from the immediate vicinity of the station. Leaf samples were brought to the laboratory for evaluation of total chlorophyll content (TCh), leaf extract pH, ascorbic acid content (AA), and relative leaf water content (RWC). Three trials were done during the months of December 2012 and January 2013. The APTI values of the plants were calculated using the formula of Liu and Ding (2008). It was found out that the APTI of Bougainvillea and Santan shows that it is sensitive to air pollution while the APTI of Mahogany indicates that it is tolerant to air pollution. Plant species that are found to be sensitive can act as bioindicator to air pollution and plant species that are tolerant to air pollution cannot indicate air pollution.

Keywords: Air Pollution Tolerance Index, Air Pollution, Biomonitoring, Santan, Bougainvillea, Mahogany, Bioindicator

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study B. Statement of the Problem C. Objectives D. Significance of the Study E. Scope and Delimitations F. Definition of Terms II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Air Pollution Tolerance Index A.1. Relative Leaf Water Content A.2. Total Chlorophyll Content A.3. Leaf Extract pH A.4. Ascorbic Acid Content B. Bioindicators C. Air Pollution C.1. Effects of Air Pollution on Humans C.2. Effects of Air Pollution on Plants C.2.1 Sulfur Dioxide C.2.2 Fluorine Compunds C.2.3 Smog D. Plant Species D.1. Santan D.2. Mahogany 14 14 11 12 13 13 13 8 9 9 9 10 10 1 2 2 3 4 4

D.3. Bougainvillea E. Related Studies E.1. Air Pollution Tolerance Indices of Some Plants Around Industrial Zone in South of Iran E.2 Evaluation of air pollution tolerance index of selected plant species along roadsides in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala E.3 Variation in air pollution tolerance index of plants near a steel factory: Implications for landscapeplant species selection for industrial areas E.4 Evaluation of Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of Some Selected Ornamental Shrubs in Enugu City, Nigeria III. METHODOLOGY A. Preliminary Parts A.1. Overview of the Study A.2. Time and Place of Study A.3. Description of Study or Sampling site/s B. Methodology B.1 Preparation of Materials and Equipment B.1.1 Choosing of Plants and Collection of Leaves B.2. Preparation of Study Area B.3. Measurement of the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of the Plants B.3.1 Measurement of the Total Relative Leaf Water Content (RWC) B.3.2 Measurement of the Total Chlorophyll Content (T) B.3.3 Measurement of the Leaf Extract pH B.3.4 Measurement of the Ascorbic Acid (AA) Content B.3.5 APTI determination

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C. Safe Handling of Chemicals D. Safety Procedures in the Laboratory E. Waste Disposal and After-care of the Laboratory IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. Results B. Discussion V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Summary B. Conclusion C. Recommendations LITERATURE CITED APPENDICES

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Total chlorophyll content (TCh), Leaf extract pH, Ascorbic acid content (AA), Relative leaf water content (RWC), and air pollution tolerance index (APTI) of three plant species from Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus.

Table 2. Total chlorophyll content (TCh), Leaf extract pH, Ascorbic acid content (AA), Relative leaf water content (RWC), and air pollution tolerance index (APTI) of three plant species from Barangay Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo.

Table 3: T-Test results of the APTI Values of plant species from PSHSWV and Brgy. Balabag, Pavia

APPROVAL SHEET

This research paper herein entitled

EVALUATION OF AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX (APTI) OF PLANT SPECIES COMMONLY FOUND IN ILOILO CITY

Prepared and submitted by Ellen Grace L. Belasa and Floredith Ann P. Tan in partial fulfilment of the requirements in Science Research II, has been examined and is recommended for acceptance and approval.

MIALO L. BAUTISTA Science Research II Adviser

Approved by the members of the Research Committee on March 2013

EDWARD C. ALBARACIN

JOSEPH SIMON G. MADRIAN

HAROLD P. MEDIODIA

ERIKA EUNICE P. SALVADOR

Accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements in Science Research II.

SHENA FAITH M. GANELA Campus Director