Air Pollution Impacts to Some Important Species of Pine

In the past, many species of pine have been severely damaged by acute forms of air pollution associated with ore smelting. More recently, damage to ponderosa pine in the state of Washington has been associated with atmospheric fluoride, and this species in particular has also suffered smog damage in southern California. In the East, white pine has been declining in the vicinity of certain soft-coal-burning power plants, and in one case downwind from an oil-burning power plant: also, throughout the East, an atmospheric oxidant of unknown source has caused a type of needle blight on white pine. Trash burners and city dump combustion have led to the hilling of certain pine species, leaving other intermixed pine species unharmed. Localized damage to white pine from automobile exhaust has been observed. Differences in the susceptibility of neighboring trees of the same species to a given air pollutant have been observed repeatedly.