Ebook: Effects of Atmospheric Pollutants on Forests, Wetlands and Agricultural Ecosystems

T. C. Hutchinson The NATO Advanced Research Workshop detailed in this volume was held in Toronto, Canada, in 1985. The purpose of the Workshop was to provide a "state of the art" report on our knowledge of the sensitivities and responses of forests, wetlands and crops to airborne pollutants. Approximately 40 scientific experts from nine countries participated. Most participants were actively involved in research concerning the effects of air pollutants on natural or agro-ecosystems. These pollutants included acidic deposition, heavy metal particulates, sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, acid fogs and mixtures of these. Also invited were experts on various types of ecosystem stresses, physiologi­ cal mechanisms pertinent to acid deposition, and other areas that were felt by the director to be of direct relevance, including: effects of ethylene on vegetation, the physiology of drought in trees, the nature and role of plant cuticles as barriers to acid rain penetration, the use of dendrochronological techniques in reconstructing the time of onset and the subsequent progression of growth declines, the ability of soils to naturally generate acidity, the role of Sphagnum moss in natural peat land acidity, the use of lichens as indicators of changing air quality, and the magnitude of natural emissions of reduced sulphur gases from tropical rainforests and temperate deciduous forests. The Workshop included a series of invited presentations and subsequent group discussions. These presentations were designed to allow syntheses of our present knowledge as well as detailed questioning and discussion.

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This book provides a state-of-the-art report on the knowledge of the sensitivities and responses of forests, wetlands and crops to airborne pollutants. Pollutants examined include: acidic depositions, heavy metal particulates, sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, acid fogs, and mixtures of these. Various types of ecosystem stresses and physiological mechanisms pertinent to acid deposition are also discussed. Related subjects, such as the effects of ethylene on vegetation, the physiology of drought in trees, the ability of soils to generate acidity naturally, the role of Sphagnum moss in natural peatland acidity, the use of lichens as indicators of changing air quality, and the magnitude of natural emissions of reduced sulphur gases from tropical rainforests and temperate deciduous forests, are extensively covered.

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This book provides a state-of-the-art report on the knowledge of the sensitivities and responses of forests, wetlands and crops to airborne pollutants. Pollutants examined include: acidic depositions, heavy metal particulates, sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, acid fogs, and mixtures of these. Various types of ecosystem stresses and physiological mechanisms pertinent to acid deposition are also discussed. Related subjects, such as the effects of ethylene on vegetation, the physiology of drought in trees, the ability of soils to generate acidity naturally, the role of Sphagnum moss in natural peatland acidity, the use of lichens as indicators of changing air quality, and the magnitude of natural emissions of reduced sulphur gases from tropical rainforests and temperate deciduous forests, are extensively covered.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XXVII
Development and Causes of Novel Forest Decline in Germany....Pages 1-24
Results of Studies on Forest Decline in Northwest Germany....Pages 25-42
Forest Damage in Switzerland, Austria, and Adjacent Parts of France and Italy in 1984....Pages 43-58
Air Pollution and Forest Damage in Norway....Pages 59-67
Forest Decline — The View from Britain....Pages 69-81
Deterioration of Red Spruce in the Northern Appalachian Mountains....Pages 83-99
Sugar Maple Decline in Ontario....Pages 101-116
Deposition and Forest Canopy Interactions of Airborne Nitrate....Pages 117-130
Plant Cuticle as a Barrier to Acid Rain Penetration....Pages 131-144
The Response of Plant Reproductive Processes to Acidic Rain and Other Air Pollutants....Pages 145-154
Consequences of Cloud Water Deposition on Vegetation at High Elevation....Pages 155-170
Acid Deposition, Nurtrient Imbalance and Tree Decline: A Commentary....Pages 171-188
Response of Trees to Drought....Pages 189-199
Responses of American Forests to Photochemical Oxidants....Pages 201-216
Ozone Toxicity — Is there more than one Mechanism of Action?....Pages 217-228
Ethylene — A Possible Factor in the Response of Plants to Air Pollution and Acid Precipitation....Pages 229-240
Responses of Forests in Decline to Experimental Fertilization....Pages 241-254
Decline as a Phenomenon in Forests: Pathological and Ecological Considerations....Pages 255-265
The use and Limitations of Dendrochronology in Studying Effects of Air Pollution on Forests....Pages 267-275
Dendroecological Analysis of Acidic Deposition Effects on Forest Productivity....Pages 277-290
Trace Metal Uptake and Accumulation in Trees as Affected by Environmental Pollution....Pages 291-306
Air Pollution and Soil Acidification....Pages 307-319
A Discussion of the Changes in Soil Acidity due to Natural Processes and Acid Deposition....Pages 321-331
Soil Acidification and Metal Solubility in Forests of Southern Sweden....Pages 333-345
Differences in Aluminum Mobilization in Spodosols in New Hampshire (USA) and in the Netherlands as a Result of Acid Deposition....Pages 347-359
Limits on Cation Leaching of Weakly Podzolized Forest Soils: An Empirical Evaluation....Pages 361-376
Aluminum Toxicity in Forest Tree Seedlings....Pages 377-385
The Effect of Simulated Acid Rain on Boreal Forest Floor Feather Moss and Lichen Species....Pages 387-400
Annual Absorption of Gaseous Air Pollutants by Mosses and Vascular Plants in Diverse Habitats....Pages 401-409
Effects of Quantitative and Qualitative Changes in Air Pollution on the Ecological and Geographical Performance of Lichens....Pages 411-426
Crop Responses to Ozone — Sulphur Dioxide Mixtures....Pages 427-438
Stomate-Dependent and Stomate-Independent Uptake of NOX, and Effects on Photosynthesis, Respiration and Transpiration of Potted Plants....Pages 439-450
The Effects of Acid Rain, Alone and in Combination with Gaseous Pollutants, on Growth and Yield of Crop Plants....Pages 451-462
The Natural and Anthropogenic Acidification of Peatlands....Pages 463-479
Interactions of Sphagnum with Water and Air....Pages 481-491
Sources of Alkalinity in Precambrian Shield Watersheds Under Natural Conditions and After Fire or Acidification....Pages 493-512
Responses to Acidic Deposition in Ombrotrophic Mires in the U.K.....Pages 513-529
The Stratigraphic Record of Atmospheric Loading of Metals at the Ombrotrophic Big Heath Bog, MT. Desert Island, Maine, U.S.A.....Pages 531-548
Proton Cycling in Bogs: Geographic Variation in Northeastern North America....Pages 549-560
Potential Sulphur Gas Emissions from a Tropical Rainforest and a Southern Appalachian Deciduous Forest....Pages 561-576
Perspectives on Establishing the Relationship between Acidic Deposition and Vegetation Responses....Pages 577-598
Group Summary Report: Forest Decline....Pages 599-610
Group Summary Report: Forest Soils....Pages 611-618
Group Summary Report: Perspectives of Air Pollution Effects on Crop Plants....Pages 619-623
Group Summary Report: Wetlands....Pages 625-626
Back Matter....Pages 627-630
....Pages 631-636