Seasonal and vegetational variations of culturable bacteria concentrations in air from urban forest parks: a case study in Hunan, China

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2022-04, Vol.29 (19), p.28933-28945
• Main Authors: Liao, Zhen-Ni, Xu, Hui-Juan, Ma, Jiaojiao, Li, Maojuan, He, Caisheng, Zhang, Qiongrui, Xu, Songjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air Microbiology; Air pollution; Air quality; Air quality measurements; Air quality standards; Air temperature; Airborne bacteria; Airborne microorganisms; Airborne sensing; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bacteria; Bacteriostasis; China; Correlation; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Environmental science; Forest communities; Forests; Green infrastructure; Open spaces; Outdoor air quality; Parks; Parks, Recreational; Particulates; Plant species; Public health; Research Article; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Temporal distribution; Trees; Ultraviolet radiation; Urban forests; Urban planning; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Wind speed
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17532-0

It is important to investigate the airborne bacterial air quality in urban forest parks as tree bacteriostasis practices are being increasingly advocated as measures to improve the air quality and public health in urban green spaces around the world. The aim of the study was to quantitatively investigate airborne culturable bacteria (ACB) concentration levels based on field measurements in every season in five selected forest communities and the uncovered space in an urban forest park, as well as the effects of several factors on the culturability of airborne bacteria. Results suggested that the airborne bacterial levels of all the forest communities reached the clean air quality standard with regard to the airborne bacteria content, with the highest concentration of ACB showing in the uncovered space (1658 ± 1298 CFU/m 3 ) and the lowest showing in the mixed community (907 ± 567 CFU/m 3 ). The temporal distribution analysis showed that the airborne bacteria were mostly concentrated in summer, as well as in the morning and afternoon. The bacteriostatic rates of the mixed community were significantly different with seasonal variation ( p < 0.05). Spearman’s correlations revealed that the concentration of ACB was significantly positively correlated with the season, wind speed (WS), temperature (T), ultraviolet light (UV), negative air ion (NAI), and total suspended particles (TSP) ( p