Abstract
GLOBAL increases in concentrations of tropospheric ozone are of worldwide concern because of its potential to affect both human and ecological health1. Ozone has been implicated in the declining health of some forest tree species2,3 because of its effects on many growth-related processes in controlled studies3–5. Despite strong evidence that growth of forest tree seedlings can be reduced by ambient levels of ozone6, there has been little basis for evaluating the threshold and magnitude of direct effects on growth of mature, economically important forest trees. We describe here a five-year study of serial changes in stem circumference of 28 mature loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees. This study has defined a rough ozone response threshold and quantified short- and longer-term components of growth responses to varying ozone and climate variables. Ozone exposures at ≩40 nl 1−1 interacted with low soil moisture and high air temperatures to reduce short-term rates of stem expansion. Annual growth was also inversely related to seasonal ozone exposure and soil moisture stress. Effects varied widely between individual trees and years. Future ozone effects on forests are likely to be influenced by climate change and by projected increases in regional ozone pollution in industrialized countries.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Finlayson-Pitts, B. J. & Pitts, J. N. Jr Air Waste 43, 1091–1100 (1993).
Prinz, B. Environment 29, 10–37 (1987).
McLaughlin, S. B. J. Air Poll. Contr. Assoc. 35, 512–534 (1985).
Shriner, D. S. et al. Responses of Vegetation to Atmospheric Deposition and Air Pollution, Vol. 18 of National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) (1990).
McLaughlin, S. B. in Plant Responses to the Gaseous Environment (eds Alscher, R. G. & Wellburn, A. R. 315–338 (Chapman and Hall, London, 1994).
Taylor, G. E. J. env. Qual. 23, 63–82 (1994).
United States Department of Agriculture The South's Fourth Forest: Alternatives for the Future (U.S. Forest Service Report No. 24.512, 1988).
Sheffield, R. M. & Cost, N. D. J. For. 87, 29–33 (1987).
Zahner, R. et al. Can. J. For. Res. 19, 612–621 (1989).
Bechtold, W. A. et al. For. Sci. 37, 703–717 (1991).
Johnson, R. A. & Wichern, D. W. Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis 2nd edn (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1988).
SAS/STAT User's Guide Version 6 4th edn N12 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA 1989).
Draper, N. R. & Smith, H. Applied Regression Analysis 2nd edn (Wiley, New York, 1981).
Palmer, W. C. Meteorological Drought (US Weather Bureau, Washington DC, 1965).
Topp, G. C. & Davis S. L. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 49, 19–24 (1985).
McLaughlin, S. B. & Downing, D. J. Can. J. For. Res. (submitted).
Kramer, P. J. & Kozlowski, T. T. Physiology of Woody Plants (Academic, New York, 1979).
Lee, W. S. et al. Water Air Soil Poll. 51, 105–116 (1992).
Maier-Marker, U. & Koch, W. Trees 7, 12–25 (1992).
Wallin, G. & Skarby, L. Trees 6, 128–136 (1992).
Huttunen, S. & Laine, K. Ann. Bot. Fenn. 20, 79 (1983).
Fowler, D., Cape, J. N., Nicholson, I. A., Kinnaird, J. W. & Patterson, I. S. in Proc. Int. Conf. Ecolog. Impact of Acid Precip. 146 (eds Drablos, D. & Tolan, A.) (SNSF, Norway, 1980).
Mosteller, F. & Tukey, J. Data Analysis and Regression: A Second Course in Statistics (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1977).
Joyce, L. A. et al. Climate Change and America's Forests (USDA Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-187, 1990).
LeFohn, A. S. et al. Atm. Env. 26, 287–298 (1992).
Belsky, D. A., Kuh, E. & Welsch, R. E. Regression Diagnostics (Wiley, New York, 1980).
Chameides, W. L., Kasibhata, P. S., Yienger, J. & Levy, Y. Science 264, 74–77 (1994).
Sesak, T. W. et al. For. Sci. 37, 1078–1098 (1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McLaughlin, S., Downing, D. Interactive effects of ambient ozone and climate measured on growth of mature forest trees. Nature 374, 252–254 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/374252a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/374252a0
This article is cited by
-
Surface ozone and meteorological condition in a single year at an urban site in central–eastern China
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (2009)
-
Differences in daily stem size variation and growth in two hybrid eucalypt clones
Trees (2009)
-
Reduction of soil carbon formation by tropospheric ozone under increased carbon dioxide levels
Nature (2003)
-
Competitive Displacement of Trees in Response to Environmental Change or Introduction of Exotics
Environmental Management (2003)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
