Visible injury, crown condition, and growth responses of selected Italian forests in relation to ozone exposure |
| |
Authors: | Bussotti Filippo Ferretti Marco |
| |
Institution: | a Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Piazzale delle Cascine 28, 50144 Firenze, Italy b TerraData environmetrics, Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università di Siena, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | The impact of ozone on forest ecosystems in Italy is monitored within the CONECOFOR programme. Ozone levels are measured in 30 plots using passive samplers. Response parameters used are: crown condition (transparency), BAI (basal area increment), and visible symptoms on spontaneous vegetation. Levels of AOT40 are above the concentration-based critical level of 5 ppmh in all sites, but the evidence of impact on forest vegetation remains limited. Ozone is a predictor of crown transparency residuals in beech sites over two consecutive years, but the variance explained amounts to less than 10%. The relation between BAI reduction and ozone is even less certain. Transparency and BAI are more readily explainable in terms of ecological conditions of the site and climate fluctuations. The interpretation of visible symptoms is doubtful, and is conditioned by the prevailing ecological factors in the areas. |
| |
Keywords: | Basal area increment Crown transparency Critical levels Forest monitoring Visible leaf injuries |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|