Temporal analysis of pollutant metals in trees of three parks in Mexico City’s Metropolitan Area

doi:10.3832/ifor4715-018

Temporal analysis of pollutant metals in trees of three parks in Mexico City’s Metropolitan Area

Carmina Cruz-Huerta⁽¹⁾, Tomás Martínez-Trinidad⁽¹⁾ , Arian Correa-Díaz⁽²⁾, J Jesús Vargas-Hernández⁽¹⁾, Armando Gómez-Guerrero⁽¹⁾, José Villanueva-Díaz⁽³⁾, Laura E Beramendi-Orosco⁽⁴⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 18, Issue 3, Pages 138-145 (2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor4715-018
Published: Jun 01, 2025 - Copyright © 2025 SISEF

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High concentrations of atmospheric pollutants, resulting from anthropogenic activities, cause direct precipitation of metals and metalloids on soil and vegetation surfaces. Urban trees can be used as passive monitors of particulate pollutants. This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of heavy metals and metalloids, namely iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), boron (B), and arsenic (As), in the soil and roots and foliage of Pinus greggii at three parks with different atmospheric pollution levels: San Juan de Aragón (SJA - high pollution level); Sierra de Guadalupe State Park (GUAD - medium level); and Viveros de Coyoacán Park (COY - low level). The highest concentrations of metals and metalloids in the soil were observed at the surface layer (0-10 cm), except for As, which was higher at the 10-20 cm layer. According to Official Mexican Standard NOM-147-SEMARNAT/SSA1-2004, the analyzed soils did not show excessive contamination. However, a super accumulation of metals and metalloids was identified in fine roots of P. greggii; for example, Cd (3.90 ppm) exceeded the limits or requirements for the plant at COY, indicating contamination in roots. The highest foliage concentrations for B, Cu, and Fe were found at SJA, whereas those for As and Pb were at GUAD. A remarkable variation in foliage accumulation of metals and metalloids was recorded throughout the year at all sites, with peak values for external surface concentrations in the spring and for intracellular concentrations in the winter, indicating movement of metals through the soil and tree components. The results confirms that urban trees are useful bio-indicators of pollution accumulation and dynamics in the soil-plant system.

Keywords

Pollutant Particles, Soil, Root, Foliage, Metals, Metalloids

Authors’ address

(1)

0000-0002-8809-4763
0000-0002-3053-472x
0000-0001-7422-4953
0000-0002-7261-1279
Colegio de Postgraduados, Postgrado en Ciencias Forestales, Campus Montecillo. km 36.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, col. Montecillo. C. P. 56230. Texcoco, Estado de México (Mexico)

(2)

0000-0002-9383-595x
Centro Nacional de Investigación Disciplinaria en Conservación y Mejoramiento de Ecosistemas Forestales CENID-COMEF, INIFAP. Av. del Progreso Núm. 5, Col. Barrio de santa Catarina, Coyoacán, CP.04010, Ciudad de México (Mexico)

(3)

0000-0001-8211-1203
Centro Nacional de Investigación Disciplinaria en Relación Agua, Suelo, Planta, Atmósfera CENID-RASPA, INIFAP. Km. 6.5 margen derecha Canal de Sacramento, Gómez Palacio, CP 35140 Gómez Palacio, Durango (Mexico)

(4)

0000-0002-6790-1378
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Interior s/n, Coyoacán, Ciudad Universitaria, CP. 4510, Ciudad de México (Mexico)

Corresponding author

Tomás Martínez-Trinidad
tomtz@colpos.mx

Citation

Cruz-Huerta C, Martínez-Trinidad T, Correa-Díaz A, Vargas-Hernández JJ, Gómez-Guerrero A, Villanueva-Díaz J, Beramendi-Orosco LE (2025). Temporal analysis of pollutant metals in trees of three parks in Mexico City’s Metropolitan Area. iForest 18: 138-145. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4715-018

Academic Editor

Werther Guidi Nissim

Paper history

Received: Aug 27, 2024
Accepted: Feb 06, 2025

First online: Jun 01, 2025
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2025
Publication Time: 3.83 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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