The effect of low frequency electromagnetic fields on fluctuating asymmetry of woody plants

The paper analyzes the impact of environmental factors of physical and chemical nature on the stability of the development of three species of woody plants: common lilac, Siberian apple tree, birch tree. Determining the value of the fluctuating asymmetry index (FA) over the width of two halves of leaves was performed on plants growing in the suburban green area (control), in the suburban green area under high-voltage power lines of 220 kV (physical factor, experiment 1), as well as in the city of Krasnoyarsk in terms of air pollution by exhaust gases of cars (chemical factor, experiment 2). The values of the FA index of common lilac and Siberian apple tree, defined for the control variants, were 0.024 and 0.028, and calculated for experiments 1 and 2 were respectively equal to 0.032 and 0.039; 0.029 and 0.030. It is established that the response of common lilac and Siberian apple trees to the physical environmental factor - electromagnetic radiation of industrial frequency - which is expressed in the appearance of leaf asymmetry is stronger in comparison with the reaction to the chemical factor - exhaust gases of cars. It is shown that the value of the FA index of Siberian apple tree and common lilac can be a sensitive indicator when monitoring the anthropogenic load on the environment in the form of an alternating electromagnetic field of industrial frequency. The FA index of the birch tree, measured on the basis of the width of the right and left halves of the leaf, is less sensitive than in the case of the common lilac and the Siberian apple tree.