Critical levels of O3for wood production of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

✍ Scribed by L. Mortensen; A. Bastrup-Birk; H. Ro-Poulsen

• Book ID: 104782412
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 399 KB
• Volume: 85
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0049-6979
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00477169

✦ Synopsis

During recent decades, ozone (03) has gained much attention as a possible contributor to forest decline.

Attempts have been made to set critical levels for 03 in order to protect vegetation. Damage to vegetation seems to depend on the pattern of exposure. Episodic peaks followed by periods with low concentrations are more phytotoxic than exposures with generally elevated concentrations but without peaks. The present experiment aims to examine whether 03 affects the wood production of beech seedlings. The seedlings were exposed to three different air pollution regimes: charcoal-filtered ambient air (CF), non-filtered ambient air (NF), and NF + 30nl ll I O3 8 hours day I during summer periods (NN3). Basal stem diameter was measured regularly during three growing seasons. The relative diameter increase was significantly reduced with increased O3 concentration. AOT40 is calculated for all treatments and evaluated in relation to the relative diameter growth.