Ozone and the clean troposphere: ecological implications

In recent years numerous investigations have examined the relationships between chronic ozone (O(3)) exposure and plant responses using statistical or empirical cause-effect models. One of the critically important decisions underlying these studies has been the choice of the control or reference O(3) exposure to which all other treatments are compared. The issue of the control or reference O(3) exposure is a complex one. Does a single ambient control or reference O(3) exposure exist? The approach taken in this paper is to examine the O(3) concentrations in the 'clean troposphere.' One must ask what a clean troposphere is and whether there are any geographic locations in the world today that are totally free of human influences. Data on photochemical oxidants from Fortress Mountain, Alberta, Canada, are examined. A comparison of these data with air quality data from other locations in North America is used to examine the design of vegetation response studies. The need for integrated research design, execution, and evaluation is stressed.     

High-sensitivity direct analysis of aflatoxins in peanuts and cereal matrices by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection involving a large volume flow cell

This paper reports a sensitive and cost effective method of analysis for aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2. The sample preparation method was primarily optimised in peanuts, followed by its validation in a range of peanut-processed products and cereal (rice, corn, millets) matrices. Peanut slurry [12.5 g peanut + 12.5 mL water] was extracted with methanol: water (8:2, 100 mL), cleaned through an immunoaffinity column and thereafter measured directly by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence (UPLC-FLD) detection, within a chromatographic runtime of 5 minutes. The use of a large volume flow cell in the FLD nullified the requirement of any post-column derivatisation and provided the lowest ever reported limits of quantification of 0.025 for B1 and G1 and 0.01 μg/kg for B2 and G2. The single laboratory validation of the method provided acceptable selectivity, linearity, recovery and precision for reliable quantifications in all the test matrices as well as demonstrated compliance with the EC 401/2006 guidelines for analytical quality control of aflatoxins in foodstuffs.     

Strong link between coronavirus count and bad air: a case study of India

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The present study aims to highlight the contrast relationship between COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019) infections and air pollutants for the Indian...     

Comparison of community composition and species diversity of understorey and overstorey tree species in a dry tropical forest of northern India

The study focuses on understorey-overstorey plant community dynamics in a dry tropical forest to facilitate appropriate management decisions. We compare community composition and species diversity of the understorey vegetation among five dry tropical forest sites in northern India. A total of 1500 quadrats distributed over 15 one-ha permanent plots in five sites differing in the degree of disturbance, were used to enumerate the understorey tree species and the results were compared with overstorey tree layer. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination revealed that human disturbance intensity, as well as the overall disturbance regimes, and soil water holding capacity controlled the organisation of dry tropical forest understorey composition through effects on soil organic matter. The alpha-diversity and its components decreased with increasing human disturbance intensity, reflecting utilisation pressure and decreased soil fertility, as also revealed by the analysis of overstorey tree layer. There was a significant positive relationship between overstorey and understorey diversity. Results suggest that in the future, the existing understorey tree communities may replace the current dry tropical forest communities under prevailing environmental conditions. The study also asserts that the rate of species accumulation will be greater in more disturbed sites as well as at small spatial scale within each disturbance level.     

Alfalfa nutritive quality for ruminant livestock as influenced by ambient air quality in west-central Alberta

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) nutritive quality response to ambient ozone (O(3)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) and oxides of nitrogen (NO(x)) were assessed at three locations in west-central Alberta, Canada (1998-2002). Yield data were segregated into high and low relative to overall median yield. Ozone concentrations (hourly median and 95th-percentile) and precipitation (P) contributed 69 and 29%, respectively, to the variability in crude protein (CP) concentration in low-yielding alfalfa, whereas mean temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) collectively influenced 98% of the variation in CP in high-yielding alfalfa. Three-fourths of the accounted variation in relative feed value (RFV) of low-yielding alfalfa was attributable to P, T and RH, whereas median and 95th-percentile hourly O(3) concentrations and SO(2) and NO(x) exposure integrals contributed 25%. In contrast, air quality, (mainly O(3)) influenced 86% of the accounted variation in RFV of high-yielding alfalfa, and T and P collectively contributed 14%.     

Effects of soil physical characteristics and biotic interferences on the herbaceous community composition and species diversity on the campus of Banaras Hindu University,India

Soil, water and species diversity relationships are central components of the vegetation ecology. In this connection, the present study was performed on the three sites within the campus of Banaras Hindu University of India, to relate herbaceous species diversity to soil physical characteristic and the intensity of biotic interferences. At each site, three, 10 m × 10 m plots were randomly established and within each plot, four quadrats each 50 cm × 50 cm were randomly placed for sampling. For each quadrat, number of individuals and their herbage cover were recorded by species. Soil physical characteristics (soil moisture, water-holding capacity, soil porosity and bulk density), elements of biotic interferences and α-diversity and its components were determined for each plot. The plots were ordinated by Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) using Importance Value Indices of the component species. Results showed that the selected locations differed in terms of soil moisture and species diversity parameters due to differences in biotic interferences. NMS ordination yielded three groups corresponding to the three communities experiencing different intensity of land use. NMS axes were substantially related to the soil and herbaceous diversity parameters and suggested that the elements of soil physical characteristics, intensity of biotic interferences and regional herbaceous species pool had profound effect on the organization and determination of herbaceous floristic composition. Further, the sample locations exhibiting greater soil moisture, water-holding capacity, soil porosity and lesser soil bulk density harboured greater herbaceous diversity. A negative relationship between indices of species diversity and soil bulk density revealed that the dry and compact soils due to greater biotic pressure contributed to the loss of species diversity. Reduction in livestock numbers, grazing pressure and soil bulk density could be helpful in the promotion of soil quality and species diversity.     

Kresoxim methyl dissipation kinetics and its residue effect on soil extra-cellular and intra-cellular enzymatic activity in four different soils of India

The rate of degradation of kresoxim methyl and its effect on soil extra-cellular (acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and β-glucosidase) and intra-cellular (dehydrogenase) enzymes were explored in four different soils of India. In all the tested soils, the degradation rate was faster at the beginning, which slowed down with time indicating a non-linear pattern of degradation. Rate of degradation in black soil was fastest followed by saline, brown and red soils, respectively and followed 1st or 1st + 1st order kinetics with half-life ranging between 1–6 days for natural soil and 1–19 days for sterile soils. The rate of degradation in natural against sterilized soils suggests that microbial degradation might be the major pathway of residue dissipation. Although small changes in enzyme activities were observed, kresoxim methyl did not have any significant deleterious effect on the enzymatic activity of the various test soils in long run. Simple correlation studies between degradation percentage and individual enzyme activities did not establish any significant relationships. The pattern and change of enzyme activity was primarily due to the effect of the incubation period rather than the effect of kresoxim methyl itself.     

Modeling plant response to tropospheric ozone: a critical review

The advantages and disadvantages, benefits and limitations, of a number of published mathematical models representing the effects of ozone on crops and native vegetation are described. Several levels of modeling are addressed: word models, graphic models, mathematical models, and computer simulation implementation. Special attention is given to evaluating: (1) how the interaction between ozone exposure and vegetation effects is quantified, (2) the status of field testing of the model, and (3) the adequacy of information for enabling other investigators to replicate the model for further testing. Original contributions, not previously published, are made in this evaluation in the form of: (1) graphic model flow charts for published models, (2) clarification of mathematical equations for existing models, (3) graphic forms of functional relations comprising portions of models, and (4) graphic displays of model output performance versus observed data. The models that are evaluated cover acute exposure-response models, statistical and mechanistic-process models, including a partial model of ambient exposure versus ozone flux, and uptake. They also cover chronic exposure statistical approaches, including time-series modeling, mechanistic-process models, 'disintegrated' models of forest system simulations, chronic flux density-uptake-response, and models for regional effects assessment in forests and agricultural lands.     

Future research directions and data requirements for developing ambient ozone guidelines or standards for agroecosystems

The ambient air quality in Central Europe appears to have the potential to adversely affect the productivity of the agroecosystems in that geographic area. Therefore, there is a need to develop, validate, and apply air pollutant exposure-plant response models to explain the relationships between the stochastic chemical climate and ecosystem responses. Such models will have to include numerical terms for the effective air pollutant exposure regime to account for the fluxes of matter, energy and information within the ecosystem and its components. The structure and function of the ecosystem which are influenced by the air pollutant flux can be described by a combination of empirical and mechanistic models. A discussion of such an approach is presented in this paper.