Study of the Effect of Vegetation on Reducing Atmospheric Pollution Particles

Abstract

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a major air pollutant. PM2.5 and PM10 pose particularly serious threats to the ecological environment and human health. Vegetation plays an important role in reducing the concentration of particles. Based on a long time series of air quality, meteorological, and vegetation coverage data in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region, the present paper evaluated the influence at the overall and built-up area scales and quantified the process involved in the dry settlement of particles on vegetation based on a mathematical model. The experimental results showed that (1) the total amounts of PM10 reduced by vegetation in the BTH area were 505,200 t, 465,500 t, 477,200 t and 396,500 t in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively, and the total amount of PM2.5 was reduced by 19,400 t, 19,200 t, 16,400 t and 12,700 t, respectively. The annual reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 from 2015 to 2018 by vegetation in the BTH region showed a downwards trend, and the annual reduction was mainly caused by the significant decrease in PM concentration. (2) More than 80% of the reduction in annual yield was concentrated in May–September, and a large leaf area was the main reason for the largest yield reduction in the growing season. The efficiency of PM reduction in forestland was approximately five–seven times that in grassland, and the deciduous broad-leaved forest was the main driver of this reduction in each forest. (3) The reduction in PM10 by vegetation was approximately 30 times that of PM2.5. However, the reduction in PM2.5 by vegetation should not be ignored because PM2.5 has a stronger correlation with human production and living activities. Increasing the area and density of green space via afforestation, returning farmland to forest and giving full play to the self-purification function of green spaces are very important to reducing and controlling the concentration of PM.