Volume 59, Issue 330, June 2023

Impact of railway traffic activities on growth of Pithecellobium dulce Roxb. Benth

Zia-Ur-Rehman Farooqi¹, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal¹, Muhammad Shafiq^1♦, Muhammad Kabir²

¹Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan
²Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha, Sub-campus Bhakkar, Bhakkar-30000, Punjab, Pakistan

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

The rail transport is an important mode of land transportation for cargo goods and public. The railway transportation activities release different types of pollutants in environment and produce toxic effects on soil and plant at regional and global levels. In recent years, the quality of air, water and soil has changed rapidly by locomotive pollution in developing countries. The environment quality, soil properties and vegetation cover near railway track of Karachi city, is under abiotic stress challenges due to railway activities. It is important to investigate the effect of railway activities on soil near railway track. In this study, the seedling growth characteristic of Pithecellobium dulce raised in site B soil significantly p<0.05 decreased. Moreover, it would provide the toxic and beneficial impact of close to railway site soil on woody plant species, P. dulce is a challenging task. The results suggest that the soil of D and E site was suitable for seedling development of P. dulce.

Keywords: Leaf growth, leaf numbers, root length, railway transportation, soil contamination, yield

Discovery, 2023, 59, e61d1226

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Published: June 2023