Publication Date:
2018-07-26
Description:
Some 40 years ago, air pollution caused widespread forest decline in Central Europe and eastern North America. More recently, high levels of tree mortality worldwide are thought to be driven by rising temperatures and increasing atmospheric drought. A neglected factor, possibly contributing to both phenomena, is the foliar accumulation of hygroscopic aerosols. Recent experiments with experimentally added aerosols revealed that foliar aerosol accumulation can (i) create the microscopic impression of ‘wax degradation’, considered an important proxy of forest decline associated with air pollution, though the mechanism remains unexplained; and (ii) increase epidermal minimum conductance ( g min ), a measure of cuticular permeability and completeness of stomatal closure—both could lead to reduced drought tolerance. Here, those studies with applied aerosol are extended by addressing plant responses to reduction of ambient aerosol. Scots pine, silver fir, and com...
Print ISSN:
1748-9318
Electronic ISSN:
1748-9326
Topics:
Biology
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Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering