howdoes air pollution affect the species in an area?

Answer 1

A good example is the Ailanthus tree, also called the Tree of Heaven. It survives better in polluted areas than most other trees. It was introduced into the USA from China in the 1800's, and in many major cities it is now the most common tree because it has crowded out the others that don't do as well in urban environments. Unfortunately, the Ailanthus tree is nearly worthless compared to any other tree.

Another example is around petroleum refineries, the trees will be stunted or dead most of the time from the air pollution.

Answer 2

Air pollution can be a wide variety of things. Carcinogens, Irritants, Ozone Depleting chemicals, Corrosives, etc. If carcinogens are released in atmosphere then species can have a reaction against it like asbestos for humans. Have you smelled ozone before? That is an irritant and horrible smell. If we deplete the ozone layer we'll all get skin cancer as well as other animals due to UV light producing radicals. Sulfur dioxide can be mixed with water in atmosphere and form sulfuric acid. DO you want to breathe in acid? Neither does the species inhabiting this planet.

Answer 3

One of the main problems with pollution in general is that it can eventually penetrate to the level of genes and cause infertility and mutation. Sorry if that's off base, but I tried.

Answer 4

well, like acid rain, wastes and if animals are dying off, it's gonna ruin the whole food chain