Interactive effects of CO2 and O3 on a ponderosa pine plant/litter/soil mesocosm.

To study individual and combined impacts of two important atmospheric trace gases, CO2 and O3, on C and N cycling in forest ecosystems; a multi-year experiment using a small-scale ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) seedling/soil/litter system was initiated in April 1998. The experiment was conducted in outdoor, sun-lit chambers where aboveground and belowground ecological processes could be studied in detail. This paper describes the approach and methodology used, and presents preliminary data for the first two growing seasons. CO2 treatments were ambient and elevated (ambient + 280 ppm). O3 treatments were elevated (hourly averages to 159 ppb, cumulative exposure > 60 ppb O3, SUM 06 approximately 10.37 ppm h), and a low control level (nearly all hourly averages <40 ppb. SUM 06 approximately 0.07 ppm h). Significant (P < 0.05) individual and interactive effects occurred with elevated CO2 and elevated O3. Elevated CO2 increased needle-level net photosynthetic rates over both seasons. Following the first season, the highest photosynthetic rates were for trees which had previously received elevated O3 in addition to elevated CO2. Elevated CO2 increased seedling stem diameters, with the greatest increase at low O3. Elevated CO2 decreased current year needle % N in the summer. For 1-year-old needles measured in the fall there was a decrease in % N with elevated CO2 at low O3, but an increase in % N with elevated CO2 at elevated O3. Nitrogen fixation (measured by acetylene reduction) was low in ponderosa pine litter and there were no significant CO2 or O3 effects. Neither elevated CO2 nor elevated O3 affected standing root biomass or root length density. Elevated O3 decreased the % N in coarse-fine (1-2 mm diameter) but not in fine (< 1 mm diameter) roots. Both elevated CO2 and elevated O3 tended to increase the number of fungal colony forming units (CFUs) in the AC soil horizon, and elevated O3 tended to decrease bacterial CFUs in the C soil horizon. Thus, after two growing seasons we showed interactive effects of O3 and CO2 in combination, in addition to responses to CO2 or O3 alone for a ponderosa pine plant/litter/soil system.     

An Approach for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Various Ozone Air Quality Standards for Protecting Trees

We demonstrate an approach for evaluating the level of protection attained using a variety of forms and levels of past, current, and proposed Air Quality Standards (AQSs). The U.S. Clean Air Act requires the establishment of ambient air quality standards to protect health and public welfare. However, determination of attainment of these standards is based on ambient pollutant concentrations rather than prevention of adverse effects. To determine if a given AQS protected against adverse effects on vegetation, hourly ozone concentrations were adjusted to create exposure levels that “just attain” a given standard. These exposures were used in combination with a physiologically-based tree growth model to account for the interactions of climate and ozone. In the evaluation, we used ozone concentrations from two 6-year time periods from the San Bernardino Mountains in California. There were clear differences in the level of vegetation protection achieved with the various AQSs. Based on modeled plant growth, the most effective standards were the California 8-hr average maximum of 70 ppb and a seasonal, cumulative, concentration-weighted index (SUM06), which if attained, resulted in annual growth reductions of 1% or less. Least effective was the 1-hr maximum of 120 ppb which resulted in a 7% annual reduction. We conclude that combining climate, exposure scenarios, and a process-based plant growth simulator was a useful approach for evaluating effectiveness of current or proposed air quality standards, or evaluating the form and/or level of a standard based on preventing adverse growth effects.     

Evaluation of ozone exposure indices in exposure-response modeling

In exposure-response modeling, a major concern is the numerical definition of exposure in relating crop loss to O3, yet few indices have been considered. This paper addresses research in which plant growth was regressed for soybean, wheat, cotton, corn, and sorghum against 613 numerical exposure indices using the Box-Tidwell model. When the minimum sum of squared errors criterion was used, optimum performance was not attained for any single index; however, near optimum performances were achieved by two censored cumulative indices and from a class of indices called the generalized, phenologically weighted, cumulative impact indices (GPWCIs). The top-performing GPWCIs accumulated concentrations, used sigmoid weighting schemes emphasizing O3 concentrations of 0.06 ppm (118 microg m(-3)) or higher, and had phenological weighting schemes with greatest weight occurring 20 to 40 days prior to crop maturity. These findings indicate that (1) peak concentrations are important, but lower concentrations should be included in the calculations, (2) increased plant sensitivity occurs between flowering and maturity, and (3) plants respond to cumulative exposure impact.     

Stress ethylene: A bioassay for rhizosphere-applied phytotoxicants

A bioassay for rhizosphere-applied phytotoxicants was developed and evaluated with a broad range of chemicals. Test substances were applied to the rhizosphere of whole, intact bush bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Bush Blue Lake 290) grown in a solid support medium and the resultant ethylene production was measured to detect the presence of phytotoxic materials. The beans were encapsulated in plastic bags for 2 hr following treatment and then incubated for 24 hr in the dark. Ethylene and ethane accumulating within the bags were quantified via gas-solid chromatography. The application of various concentrations of inorganic and organic chemicals induced various responses. No single equation adequately described the dose-response curves; therefore, a critical value (a statistically significant increase in stress ethylene) was computed for each test substance. A phytotoxic-response threshold for each test substance was defined as the test-substance concentration that caused ethylene production to exceed its respective critical-value concentration. Based on threshold concentrations determined by analysis of stress ethylene production, the relative phytotoxicity rankings of the inorganic test substances were: CdCl₂>CuCl₂>Pb(C₂H₃O₂)₂>LiCl, while those of the organic test substances were 2,4-D esters>paraquat dichloride>1-butanol>2-propanone>2-propanol. Both stress ethylene and ethane production were nonresponsive to hydrogen-ion concentration (measured before application) over a broad pH range. However, significant ethane production was detected at pH 2 and stress ethylene was produced at pH 1. The measurement of stress-induced ethylene provides a rapid and simple means to determine the relative phytoxicity of rhizosphere-applied substances.     

Drivers and constraints of waste-to-energy incineration for sustainable municipal solid waste management in developing countries

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Implementation of waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration has recently surged in developing countries, but the drivers of this growth and the...     

National crop loss assessment network: quality assurance program

A quality assurance program was incorporated into the National Crop Loss Assessment Network (NCLAN) program, designed to assess the economic impacts of gaseous air pollutants on major agricultural crops in the United States. To satisfy US EPA requirements that all environmental data collected be of known and documented quality, adequate for the intended use, the quality assurance program developed standardized research and monitoring protocols among sites, and included a range of audit and review procedures. The goal of the quality assurance program was to quantitatively describe the overall quality of data collected in terms of precision, accuracy, completeness, representativeness, and comparability. From this program, it can be concluded that (1) project data quality objectives were valuable for determining the acceptability of data from diverse sites, (2) standardized protocols ensured data comparability among research sites, (3) independent on-site audits served to evaluate protocol adherence, and (4) precision and accuracy measurements provided a way to assess data quality, determine data acceptability, and indicate the need for instrument adjustment or repair.