Air Pollution Tolerance and Carbon Sequestration Potential of Tree Species to Combat Climate Change

The per capita income in the country has increased due to the modernisation and hopeful expansion of Indian industry. Infrastructure development, including road construction, has improved people’s quality of life. However, when such activities go beyond what a region can sustain, they upset the current ecology, damaging the environment’s natural resources, including its quality, to varying degrees. Examining the variables that affect susceptibility and resistance may be used to gauge how plants react biochemically and physiologically to environmental quality, especially air pollution. Air pollution impacts total chlorophyll, cell sap pH, ascorbic acid, and relative water levels. These four factors are used in the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI), which determines how sensitive or tolerant an individual plant is to air pollution. The carbon sequestration potential of tree species concerning APTI is evaluated for the suitability of species for urban plantations. This chapter aims to provide information concerning the tolerance of tree species pertaining to air pollution and its carbon sequestration potential to understand tree species’ adaptation and suitability to green belt development and combating climate change.