WSL > Research units > Forest Dynamics > Projects > Ozone Air Pollution and Effects on Native Plants in Switzerland

Research Units Forest Dynamics Staff Services Projects Ozone effects on native plants Publications Dossiers Mycorrhiza Forest Entomology Disturbance Ecology Forest Protection Ecophysiology Forest Growth and Climate Diplomarbeiten FE-Kolloquien TV and Radio

Duration: 2000 - 2002

Ozone Air Pollution and Effects on Native Plants in Switzerland

Rationale

Experimental site in Lattecaldo

Visible symptoms arising from ozone-induced injury:

Symptoms on Prunus Serotina leaves

Symptoms on Acer pseudoplatanus leaves

Symptoms on Morus nigra leaves

In 1997, based on ten years of monitoring forest condition in Europe for estimating direct effects by air pollution on forest trees, the UN/ECE (UN/ECE, 1997) concluded that tropospheric ozone is the main parameter to be considered. In nearly all regions of Europe ozone concentrations during the summer, are high enough to be of potential risk to sensitive plants. The value that is recognized as an accepted standard for the protection of forest trees from adverse ozone effects (Skärby et al. 1998) is frequently and repeatedly exceeded in many areas such as Austria, Switzerland and especially in the Mediterranean (Sanz et al. 1999). Forest and nursery surveys in Canton Ticino in southern Switzerland have recorded ozone-like symptoms on numerous native tree, shrub, and forb species (Innes et al., 1996; Skelly et al., 1998; Skelly et al., 1999, VanderHeyden et al. 2000). Little information is available on the effects of ozone on the multitude of native forest plant species throughout Europe (Fuhrer et al., 1998).

Abstract

Project aims

The aim of this study was to examine long-term, cumulative, ozone concentrations in relation to the onset and development of visible foliar injury on several forest, shrub and herb species in southern Switzerland. In particular we aimed:

to assess the sensitivity to ozone of different plant species and determination of dose-response relationship
to determine, assess and validate visible and non-visible ozone symptoms
to examine the seasonal long-term and cumulative ozone exposure required to induce the onset and development of visible foliar injury
to test the applicability of the ICP Forest Sub-Manual on monitoring and assessment of ambient air quality and ozone effects
to assess the influence of environmental modifying factors
to produce information on ambient air quality in forest ecosystems
to assess experimentally determined symptoms in the field and to develop a regionalized risk assessment on the basis of ozone monitoring and modelling data

Methods

An open-top chamber (OTC) research facility with 8 OTC and 4 open plots was established in 1995 within the Vivaio Lattecaldo Cantonal Forest Nursery (600 m asl) in the Muggio Valley of Canton Ticino. In 2000, 12 species (3 reps.) were planted in each plot. The methods included:

For ozone monitoring two-minute air samples were taken for ambient, non-filtered, and filtered treatment every 20 minutes.
All seedlings were evaluated daily until foliar injury symptoms first appeared and then twice weekly thereafter using a modified Horsfall-Barratt scale for estimating the precent of injured leaves.
Physiological gas exchange measurements were conducted with a LiCor 6200 photosynthesis system throughout the season.
A low cost method (passive ozone monitoring) for determining integrated ambient ozone exposures was used on 16 out of 17 ICP level II plots across Switzerland for dose-plant response relationship under natural field conditions.

Results

This project was concluded as of April 2002. Please click here to view continuing research projects at the Lattecaldo OTC Research Facilty (2002-2004). The following is a list of publications, posters, presentations, and extension activities from 2000-2002:

2002

Bussotti F, Schaub M, Novak N, Cozzi A, Kräuchi N, Ferretti M, Skelly J. (2002). Assessment of ozone visible symptoms in the field: perspectives of quality control. 34th Air Pollution Workshop, State College, PA, USA, 15-18 April, 2002.
Bussotti F, Schaub M, Novak N, Cozzi A, Kräuchi N, Ferretti M, Skelly J. (2002). Assessment of ozone visible symptoms in the field: perspectives of quality control. IUFRO Conference, 20th International Meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems, Zvolen Republic, 30 Aug - 1 Sept 2002.
Cherubini P, Innes J.L, Skelly J.M, Hug C, Schaub M, Kraeuchi N. (2002). La divulgazione dei resultati di dieci anni di ricerca sui danni da ozono tropospherico nei boschi in Svizzera. Informatore Fitopatologico 3, 48-51.
Novak K. (2002). Ozone air pollution and foliar injury development on native plants of Switzerland. Masters of Science Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA. 92 pp.
Novak K and Schaub M. (2002). Concept for a Ph.D thesis - Assessment of Morphological and Physiological Ozone Effects on Native Forest Species in Canton Ticino of Switzerland. Research Proposal, 18 pp.
Novak K, Schaub M, Skelly J.M, Kraeuchi N, Landolt W, Bleuler P, Hug C, Innes J. (2002). Ozone air pollution effects on native plants of southern Switzerland. 34th Air Pollution Workshop, State College, PA, USA, 15-18 April, 2002.
Novak K, Skelly J, Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Hug C, Landolt W, Bleuler P. (2002). Ozone air pollution and foliar injury development on native plants of Switzerland. Final Report, Environmental Resources Research Institute, University Park, PA, USA, 92 pp.
Paoletti E. and Schaub M. (2002). Danni visibili tipo-ozono su latifoglie. Sherwood 76, 25–26.
Schaub M, Bassin S, Kräuchi N. (2002). Assessment of ozone visible injury on 16 ICP-Forests Level II plots in Switzerland. 34th Air Pollution Workshop, State College, PA, USA, 15-18 April, 2002.
Schaub M, Bussotti F, Novak K, Skelly J.M, Kräuchi N, Bleuler P, Landolt W. (2002). Discussion of an O3 standard dependent on plant response. 34th Air Pollution Workshop, State College, PA, USA, 15-18 Apr 2002.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Bassin S, Fuhrer J, Skelly J. (2002). Effect- and Risk-Assessment of Ozone Air Pollution on Forest Vegetation in Switzerland. Research Proposal for SAEFL, 29 pp.
Schaub M, Novak K, Skelly J, Kräuchi N, Hug C, Landolt W, Bleuler P. (2002). BUWAL Final Report 2000-2002. Ozone Air Pollution and Effects to Native Plants in Switzerland. WSL publication, 47 pp.
Schaub M, Novak K, Kräuchi N, Skelly J. (2002). Assessment of ozone visible injury in the field: Perspectives of Quality Control. 3rd UN/ECE ICP-Forests Training Course, Ville-Franche, France, 25-27 Sept 2002.

2001

Bussotti F, Gravano E, Gerosa G, Ballarin-Denti A, Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Skelly J.M, Sanz M.J, Calatayud V. (2001)(Poster). Ozone air pollution and effects on native plants in southern Europe. 33rd Air Pollution Workshop, Riverside, CA, USA, 9-12 April 2001.
Innes J.L, Skelly J.M, Schaub M. (2001). Ozone and braodleaved species. A guide to the identification of ozone-induced foliar injury. Ozon, Laubholz- und Krautpflanzen. Ein Führer zum Bestimmen von Ozonsymptomen. Birmensdorf, Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt WSL, Birmensdorf. Bern, Stuttgart, Wien; Paul Haupt Verlag, 136 pp.
Kräuchi N and Schaub M. (2001). WSL ozone web page: http://www.wsl.ch/ozone/.
Kräuchi N and Schaub M. (2001). Schweizerische Forstmesse, Luzern, 23-27 Aug 2001.
Läubli M. (2001)(Extension). Beitrag zu Zeitungsartikel „Ozon – keine Entlastung in Sicht“, Tages-Anzeiger WISSEN, 24 Aug 2001.
Schaub M. (2001). Interactions between soil moisture and ozone on three hardwood tree species. Ph.D. Thesis, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA, 255 pp.
Schaub M. (2001). The Swiss Alps, Palm Trees and Ozone, a contribution to the 10th Air Pollution Society of Central PA. State College, PA, USA, 4 Apr 2001.
Schaub M. (2001)(Presentation). Interactions between soil moisture and ozone of three hardwood tree species. 33rd Air Pollution Workshop, Riverside, USA, 9-12 Apr 2001.
Schaub M. (2001). Ozone plant effects in Switzerland; an overview. INTERREG 2001. Ozone effects over Mediterranean vegetation. Ending conference. Torino, Italy, 3-4 Sept 2001.
Schaub M, Ballarin-Denti A, Bussotti F, Kräuchi N, Skelly J.M. (2001). Assessment of Ozone Air Pollution Injuries on Forest Vegetation in the Transalpine Region of Lombardy and Canton Ticino. Research Proposal, 19 pp.
Schaub M, Cherubini P, Kräuchi N. (2001). Publozon 2001, Ozon - Auswirkungen auf den Wald. Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt WSL, Birmensdorf, 11 pp.
Schaub M, Hug C, Kräuchi N, Novak K. (2001). Hosting of the ‘2nd UNECE/ICP-Forests Intercalibration Course on the Assessment of Ozone Injury on European Tree Species’. Switzerland / Italy, 22-24 Aug 2001.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Broggi M. (2001). Scientific collaboration between WSL (Section Forest Ecosystems and Ecological Risks) and the Italian working group, coordinated by Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente (FLA), and composed (besides FLA) by Regional Forest Agency (Antonio Tagliaferri), Regional Environmental Protection Agency and the Universities of Brescia (A. Ballarin-Denti and G. Gerosa) and the University of Florence (F. Bussotti), 25 Sept 2001.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Cherubini P. (2001). Ozono e foreste: la situazione in Svizzera. Giornata di studio Ozono e foreste. Pisa, Italy, 1 Jun 2001.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Hug C. (2001). Herein-spaziert ins Ozongewächshaus. Science et cité, Zürcher Festival des Wissens, Zürich, 4-7 Mai 2001.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N, Skelly J.M, Novak K, Hug C, Bleuler P, Ferdinand J, Bussotti F. (2001). Ozone air pollution and effects to native plants in Switzerland. Second Year Report to the Swiss the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL), Switzerland, 38 pp.
Skelly J.M, Davis D.D, Steiner K.C, Zhang J, Schaub M, Ferdinand J, Savage J.E, Stevenson R.E. (2001). Impact of ambient ozone on physiological, visual, and growth responses of sensitive eastern hardwood tree species under natural and varying conditions. Final Report ER2001-2. University Park, PA, Pennsylvania State University, Environmental Resources Research Institute. 268 pp.
Skelly J, Davis D, Steiner K, Zhang J, Schaub M, Ferdinand J, Savage J, Stevenson R. (1999). Impact of ambient ozone on physiological, visual, and growth responses of sensitive Eastern hardwood tree species under natural and varying site conditions. Final report to the National Center for Environmental Research NCER, Office of Research and Development of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA.
Zimmermann N.E, Thornton P.E, Jolly W.M, Cherubini P, Kräuchi N, Kienast F, Wildi O, Forster T, Dobbertin M, Schaub M. (2001). Scaling carbon fluxes from stands to landscapes: calibrating and testing Biome-BGC along multiple environmental gradients. Research Proposal, 19 pp.

2000

Cherubini P, Moretti G, Schaub M, Schnyder D. (2000). Wie Ozon auf Mensch und Umwelt wirkt. Wanderausstellung PUBLOZON 2000 – mit neuesten Forschungsergebnissen zu Auswirkungen von Ozon auf den Tessiner Wald. Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt WSL, Birmensdorf, 16 pp.
Dionis K. (2000)(Extension). Contribution to the Summer/Fall 2000 issue of the Penn State Agriculture magazine: Can trees afford to stay outside?
Schaub M. (Presentation). Experiences with passive ozone monitoring and visible ozone injury assessment on the forest vegetation on 5 ICP-Forests Level II plots within Switzerland. 1st ICP-Forests Training Course on ‘Assessment of Ozone Visual Injury’ in Morella, Valencia, Spain, 27-29 Aug 2000.
Schaub M. (2000). Ozone air pollution and effects to native plants in Switzerland. First Year Report to the Swiss the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL), Switzerland, 45 pp.
Schaub M. (2000). The effect of ozone on plant physiology and forest health. Technical School in Rapperswil (HSR) under the guidance of Mr. Hans Rudolf Bürgi from the EAWAG, 4 Dec 2000.
Schaub M, Cherubini P, Kräuchi N, Goerg-Günthard M, Vollenweider P. (2000). PUBLOZON 2000’. KV Zürich Business School, 21 Sept-5 Oct 2000.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N. (2000)(Poster). Ozon – was, warum, wie und wo. 157th Annual Meeting of the Swiss Forest Society (SFV) at the ETH Lausanne, 31 Aug - 1 Sept 2000.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N. (2000). Ozonschäden im Tessiner Wald. 157th Annual Meeting of the Swiss Forest Society (SFV) at the ETH Lausanne, 31 Aug - 1 Sept 2000.
Schaub M, Kräuchi N. (2000). Zeigerpflanzen für Ozon. 157th Annual Meeting of the Swiss Forest Society (SFV) at the ETH Lausanne, 31 Aug - 1 Sept 2000.

Previous studies have reveiled the following results:

The Level I critical level for forest trees, AOT 40, 10 ppm.h (10 ppm.h accumulated exposure of ozone over a threshold of 40 ppb), is exceeded annually at many monitoring stations throughout Switzerland (NABEL 1999).
83 species across Switzerland have been observed to show foliar ozone injury (Skelly, pers. comm.)
25 native species have been confirmed to be sensitive to ambient ozone concentrations (Innes et al., 1996; Skelly et al., 1998; 1999; Sanz et al., 1999; VanderHeyden et al., 2000)
Nutrition, water availability, temperature, atmospheric humidity, wind speed, and incident light levels are all known to affect physiological gas exchange (Sandermann et al., 1997)
Innes and Seklly (1996) found that seedlings varied markedly in symptom severity and development both within and among species.

Participants

Norbert Kräuchi (Project leader)
John M. Skelly (Project leader)
Marcus Schaub
Kristopher Novak
Christian Hug
Peter Bleuler
Werner Landolt
John Innes

Contact

Marcus Schaub