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Field methods used for air pollution research with plants

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Plant Physiological Ecology

Abstract

Recent awareness of the regional distribution patterns of air pollutants such as ozone, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, and their transformation products, has led physiological ecologists to consider these chemical agents as environmental stresses. From this perspective, important ideas have emerged regarding the value of air-quality-monitoring data as well as the transfer and application of research approaches used for traditional stress physiology studies to studies of plant responses to air pollutants. Development of these ideas suggests that degradation of air quality may reduce plant productivity, fitness and capacity to resist other environmental stresses. Physiological ecologists performing field work in areas with elevated air pollutant levels need to be aware of how their research can contribute to this area of environmental science and how these agents may be affecting their study plants. This awareness should include an understanding of air pollution sources and chemistry, some responses of plants to air pollutants, and methods used to measure the effects of air pollutants on plants.

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Authors
  1. William E. Winner
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  2. Carol S. Greitner
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Robert W. Pearcy

  2. Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    James R. Ehleringer

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Harold A. Mooney

  4. Laboratory of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences and Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Philip W. Rundel

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Winner, W.E., Greitner, C.S. (2000). Field methods used for air pollution research with plants. In: Pearcy, R.W., Ehleringer, J.R., Mooney, H.A., Rundel, P.W. (eds) Plant Physiological Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9013-1_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9013-1_17

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