Abstract:One hundred and twenty-five woody plant species (including infraspecific taxa) grown in pots and in the wild were investigated to evaluate their sensitivity responses to air pollution in Foshan and Guangzhou. The investigations were based on the differences of plant growth parameters (plant height, basal diameter, crown area, leaf area, number of new leaves increased and leaf cast), physiological characters (including net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll fluorescence characters, leaf cell membrance leakage rate and chlorophyll content) and plant injury tolerance. All the plants studied were exposed to polluted environments with combined pollutants such as acid rain, sulphide, fluoride and dust in industrial area, heavy traffic density area and residential site. As results all the plants were classified into three categories: (1) most tolerant species (35 species); (2) less tolerant (41 species); (3) most sensitive (49 species). The accumulation level of S, F and Pb in leaves of 48 species were also determined. A list of garden plants concerning sensitivity response to pollutants is given. The results can provide useful information for urban greening in similar atmospheric environments.
