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Lichens function as indicators of nitrogen pollution in forests
October 07, 2008Scientists have found lichens can give insight into nitrogen air pollution effects on Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino mountain ecosystems, and protecting them provides safeguards for less sensitive species.
Their findings are presented this month in the international journal Environmental Pollution and are significant because nitrogen from air pollution causes detrimental chemical and biological effects to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Other harmful effects include elevated nitrate concentrations in streams and groundwater, and weakened California forests more susceptible to bark beetle infestations and fires.
The U.S. Forest Service funded the study, which included the agency's own researchers working with scientists at the University of Arizona and Spain's National Research Center for Energy, Environment and Technology.
According to the scientists, nitrogen pollution that has virtually eliminated lichen species in the Los Angeles Basin and San Bernardino Mountains is now exceeding critical loads over much of the Western Sierra Nevada as far north as Lake Tahoe. Other areas in corridors of polluted air such as the Central Valley are also exceeding nitrogen critical loads.
"Publicity surrounds the carbon cycle and its effects on the environment, but humans have altered the global nitrogen cycle to a greater degree," said Mark Fenn, a Forest Service plant pathologist and one of the study's authors. "There are now significant changes in lichen indicator groups because nitrogen critical loads are being exceeded over much of California."
Scientists involved in the research studied 24 mixed-conifer forest sites exposed to a wide range of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and monitored adverse changes in lichens, among the most sensitive biological indicators of nitrogen effects.
The result is a useful tool for determining critical loads and preventing broader impacts to forests. Protecting lichens also has inherent value because of their complex hydrological, nutrient cycling, wildlife forage and nesting material roles.
"Quantifying nitrogen critical loads helps land managers determine the point at which unacceptable impacts occur to sensitive ecosystems," Fenn said. "This helps bring air quality management that is more firmly rooted in ecosystem protection."
The United Nations' International Cooperative Program on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops has led the largest effort to quantify nitrogen critical loads. Similar coordinated efforts do not exist in the United States. But, U.S. research in critical loads is increasing.
US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
According to the scientists, nitrogen pollution that has virtually eliminated lichen species in the Los Angeles Basin and San Bernardino Mountains is now exceeding critical loads over much of the Western Sierra Nevada as far north as Lake Tahoe. Other areas in corridors of polluted air such as the Central Valley are also exceeding nitrogen critical loads.
"Publicity surrounds the carbon cycle and its effects on the environment, but humans have altered the global nitrogen cycle to a greater degree," said Mark Fenn, a Forest Service plant pathologist and one of the study's authors. "There are now significant changes in lichen indicator groups because nitrogen critical loads are being exceeded over much of California."
Scientists involved in the research studied 24 mixed-conifer forest sites exposed to a wide range of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and monitored adverse changes in lichens, among the most sensitive biological indicators of nitrogen effects.
The result is a useful tool for determining critical loads and preventing broader impacts to forests. Protecting lichens also has inherent value because of their complex hydrological, nutrient cycling, wildlife forage and nesting material roles.
"Quantifying nitrogen critical loads helps land managers determine the point at which unacceptable impacts occur to sensitive ecosystems," Fenn said. "This helps bring air quality management that is more firmly rooted in ecosystem protection."
The United Nations' International Cooperative Program on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops has led the largest effort to quantify nitrogen critical loads. Similar coordinated efforts do not exist in the United States. But, U.S. research in critical loads is increasing.
US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Air Pollution Current Events and Air Pollution News RSSNew Satellite Data Reveal Impact of Olympic Pollution Controls
Chinese government regulators had clearer skies and easier breathing in mind in the summer of 2008 when they temporarily shuttered some factories and banished many cars in a pre-Olympic sprint to clean up Beijing's air. And that's what they got.
Wind, water and sun beat biofuels, nuclear and coal for clean energy, Stanford researcher says
The best ways to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution are blowing in the wind and rippling in the water, not growing on prairies or glowing inside nuclear power plants, says Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.
Pinning down the fleeting Internet: Web crawler archives historical data for easy searching
The Internet contains vast amounts of information, much of it unorganized. But what you see online at any given moment is just a snapshot of the Web as a whole -- many pages change rapidly or disappear completely, and the old data gets lost forever.
Smokers see decline in ability to smell, rise in laryngitis, and upper airway issues
As Americans prepare for a day without cigarettes and tobacco products as part of the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout (R) (November 20), new research gives them more reasons to extend that break to a lifetime.
Pollution, everyday allergens, may be sources of laryngitis
Everyday exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, allergens, and air pollution may be the root of chronic cases of laryngitis, says new research presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Chicago, IL.
Fuel Emissions From Marine Vessels Remain a Global Concern
Marine vessels are no longer resting in a safe harbor. The forecast for clear skies and smooth sailing for oceanic vessels has been impeded by worldwide concerns of their significant contributions to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that impact the Earth's climate.
Tracking Down the Menace in Mexico City Smog
A new report by scientists who are part of the international MILAGRO Campaign indicates that some of the most harmful air pollution in Mexico City may not come from motor vehicles but instead originates with industrial sources - and that the culprit may be garbage incineration.
Dirty air brings rain -- then again, maybe not
An international team of scientists, headed by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has come up with a surprising finding to the disputed issue of whether air pollution increases or decreases rainfall. The conclusion: both can be true, depending on local environmental conditions.
Global survey highlights need for cancer prevention campaigns to correct misbeliefs
Many people hold mistaken beliefs about what causes cancer, tending to inflate the threat from environmental factors that have relatively little impact while minimizing the hazards of behaviours well established as cancer risk factors, according to the first global survey on the topic.
Many U.S. Public Schools in 'Air Pollution Danger Zone'
One in three U.S. public schools are in the "air pollution danger zone," according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC).
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