Abstract
In the process of urbanization in China, the problem of atmospheric suspended particulate matter pollution is becoming increasingly serious. It has been impossible to completely rely on pollution source control measures to solve this problem for a long time due to the diversity and complexity of pollution sources. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore alternate solutions to significantly improve air quality through increasing the capacity of green space in cities as these locations can provide multiple ecosystem services. In this study, a three-dimensional classification system was created by utilizing Beijing’s urban forest as a study area. Considering the meteorological factors, change of month and time and the characteristics of the forest itself, the significance and difference of reducing the concentration of atmospheric suspended particulate matter by the forest with different vegetation structures were tested. The results showed that meteorological factors such as wind velocity, temperature, and relative humidity all had a very significant effect on the concentration of atmospheric suspended particulate matter in the conditions of this study. The concentration was highest in winter, followed by spring and autumn, and lowest in summer. The concentration in the morning was the lowest of the day, increasing in the noon and afternoon with time. It was the lowest in the closed single-layered mixed forest, and the highest in the open lawn green space. By comparing the forest with gradient areas of 0.5 ha and 3.0 ha, it was found that with the increase in the area, the green space did not necessarily show a better dust retention effect, and the vegetation structure type of the green space often had more important influence. There was a very significant correlation between vegetation structure and plant diversity (Shannon–Wiener Diversity Index and Simpson Diversity Index). Biodiversity could significantly support and strengthen urban forest ecological service functions that improve air quality. Increasing the plant species diversity could lead to lower particulate matter concentration. The research conclusions could provide theoretical and practical bases for how to select the combination of vegetation structure in the planning and design of urban forest oriented to improve air quality.
Highlights
With the acceleration of China’s urbanization process and the rapid development of industry, the problem of atmospheric suspended particulate matter pollution is becoming more serious [1,2].At present, the sources of atmospheric suspended particulate matter pollution in Chinese cities are numerous and complex, because the sources and proportions of atmospheric suspended particulateForests 2020, 11, 950; doi:10.3390/f11090950 www.mdpi.com/journal/forestsForests 2020, 11, 950 matter are affected by many factors in different cities and regions [3,4,5]
Sunny and windless weather was chosen to minimize the influence of meteorological factors in this experiment, it was still found that meteorological factors such as wind velocity, temperature and relative humidity had an extremely significant effect on the concentration of atmospheric suspended particulate matter through linear regression analysis (p < 0.01) (Table 2)
The results showed that the forest containing different vegetation structures had extremely significant effects in the reduction of four kinds of atmospheric suspended particulate matter (p < 0.01) (Table 4)
Summary
With the acceleration of China’s urbanization process and the rapid development of industry, the problem of atmospheric suspended particulate matter pollution is becoming more serious [1,2].At present, the sources of atmospheric suspended particulate matter pollution in Chinese cities are numerous and complex, because the sources and proportions of atmospheric suspended particulateForests 2020, 11, 950; doi:10.3390/f11090950 www.mdpi.com/journal/forestsForests 2020, 11, 950 matter are affected by many factors in different cities and regions [3,4,5]. With the acceleration of China’s urbanization process and the rapid development of industry, the problem of atmospheric suspended particulate matter pollution is becoming more serious [1,2]. Atmospheric suspended particulate matter affected the climate by changing the optical properties of clouds and their distribution, increasing the reflection of solar radiation [6], which was a major factor in reducing urban atmospheric visibility [7]. It seriously threatened the health of urban residents, especially posing threats to the human cardiovascular system and respiratory system [8,9].
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