Fluctuating asymmetry of the lamina of Betula pendula Roth in the context of different cities and industrial load

Abstract

Abstract The material is collected on the territory and in the vicinity of four cities of the Russian Federation (RF) that differ in climatic conditions and anthropogenic load. A total of 20 ecotopes are distinguished, and 6000 leaves are analyzed. The fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of Betula pendula Roth was assessed by five morphometric features of the lamina. One-way and multi-way ANOVA and principal component analysis (PCA) have been performed. The effect of three climatic and four anthropogenic factors on FA value is discussed. None of the four regions demonstrates statistically significant inter-annual differences in integrated fluctuating asymmetry (IFA). On the territory of the cities, in most ecotopes IFA is significantly higher than in natural biotopes of the same region. The analysis of the association of IFA variability and climatic and anthropogenic parameters in different ecotopes has allowed us to reveal the influence of two groups of factors, which taken together account for 89% of the changes in environmental parameters. PCA has distributed the studied ecotopes along the gradient of the anthropogenic transformation of the environment and climatic features. The greatest contribution to the ecotope variability is made by climatic factors and anthropogenic development of the region. Generally, FA of Betula pendula rises along the gradient of increasing industrial load, which makes it possible to conduct comparative biomonitoring studies, both on the territory of cities and in posttechnogenic territories.