The effect of vehicular traffic on the lead levels of wayside flora in Glasgow

Abstract

Undergraduate students from Glasgow Caledonian University investigated the effects of vehicular traffic on the lead levels of wayside flora in Glasgow. They found that plants growing close to heavily trafficked roads bad higher lead levels than plants growing within the city centre, where there was no traffic. In addition, they found that lead levels increased during the autumn to maximum values in the winter, and then decreased during the spring to minimum values in the summer, as a result of the plants' growth pattern. This prolect was designed In order to introduce undergraduates to experimental design and analysis.

Keywords:

• Vehicular traffic
• Lead
• Flora