ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1622690
The influence of simulated rainfall on the removal of retained particulate matter on the surface of lawn grass leaves
Provisionally accepted
- Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
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Rainfall can wash the surface atmospheric particulate matter (PM) into the soil, and restore the PM retention function of the turfgrass blades. The dynamic process of PM removal on turfgrass blades concerning rainfall intensity and duration was investigated, and the relationship between rainfall, leaf surface structure, and the rate of foliar PM removal was established. Seven turfgrass species (Liriope spicata, Lolium perenne, Festuca elata, Poa pratensis, Zoysia sinica, Cynodon dactylon and Agrostis stolonifera) were examined in simulated rainfall experiments with total rainfall amounts of 16 mm, rainfall intensities of 10, 15, and 20 mm•h -1 , and sampling intervals of 12, 8, and 6 min, respectively. The highest wash-off rates for foliar TSP, PM>10, PM2.5-10, and PM2.5 among the test plants were 84.05%, 87.99%, 78.62%, and 79.31%, respectively, with Liriope spicata and Zoysia sinica exhibiting higher wash-off rates. Higher rainfall intensity led to greater wash-off rates, requiring less time to reach maximum wash-off rates. It is important to note that rainfall did not completely remove foliar PM, and PM retention after 20 mm• h -1 rainfall was lower than that after 10 mm• h -1 rainfall. Additionally, particulate wash-off rates decreased with the increase in groove width, leaf hair length, and leaf hair width in the leaf surface structure. The present study provides a scientific foundation for quantitative investigations into PM removal by garden plants and offers guidance for selecting urban greening plants.
Keywords: Simulated rainfall, Turfgrass, Particulate Matter, Wash-off rates, Leaf surface structure
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Kong, Li, Liu and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Haimei Li, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
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