2019

Arches

Research

Dr Daniel Winkler

516-996-3690

2290 S West Resource Boulevard
Moab, UT 84532
United States

 

dwinkler@usgs.gov

Physiological impacts of ambient ozone levels on sensitive plant species on the Colorado Plateau

ARCH-00110

ARCH-2019-SCI-0001

Mar 30, 2019

Sep 29, 2019

Mar 30, 2019

Sep 29, 2019

Continuing

___ A final report has been provided to the park or will be provided to the park within the next two years

___ Copies of field notes, data files, photos, or other study records, as agreed, have been provided to the park

___ All collected and retained specimens and retained material originating from such specimens have been cataloged into the NPS catalog system and NPS has processed loan agreements as needed.

Research

Air Quality

Ecology (Aquatic, Marine, Terrestrial)

Plant Communities (Vegetation)

Anthropogenic air pollution both directly and indirectly impacts ecosystem process and the species within. Troposphere ozone levels have been shown to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells, oftentimes leading to declines in physiological performance, the ability of plants to respond to and tolerate stress, and often times resulting in cell death (Van Breusegem and Dat 2006; Kline et al. 2008). Although ozone is a naturally occurring gas, human populations have been increasing the amount of tropospheric ozone by releasing hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides via an increased use in fossil fuels (Wang and Jacobs 1998). This has had well-document and negative effects on human health and damage to forest and crop industries (Long et al. 2005; Karonsky et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2007; Allred et al. 2015). Similarly, anthropogenically-produced ozone has the potential to negatively impact public lands across the United States (Eckert et al. 1999; Carroll et al. 2003; Copeland et al. 2017) and can pair with anthropogenic nitrogen deposition to enhance responses. The Colorado Plateau may be particular sensitive to change given forecasted changes including increases in temperature and decreases in precipitation (Seager et al. 2007; Woodhouse et al. 2010; Hansen et al. 2014). These changes alone will lead to significant shifts in ecosystem structure, and ozone has the potential to accelerate these changes by influencing existing plant communities and, perhaps more importantly, by preventing regeneration of plant populations (Krause et al. 2015). This has severe implications for the Colorado Plateau where ca. 75% of land is managed by federal and tribal agencies (Copeland et al. 2017). This includes several National Parks and Monuments that cover ca. 15,500 km2. Although preliminary work has found no visible damage to leaf tissue due to tropospheric ozone on adult plants on the Colorado Plateau, no studies to date have examined the influence of ozone on early growth strategies and establishment of sensitive species. The National Park Service has compiled a list of sensitive plant species that can be used as bioindicators for the negative impacts of ozone on ecosystem structure and function. Thus, now is an opportune time to investigate the potential for ambient and elevated ozone levels to influence plant species on the Colorado Plateau. This partnership will advance our understanding of plant responses to anthropogenically-produced ozone and nitrogen, especially early life history strategies of plants attempting to establish in an ozone-rich world. This information can be used to inform management decisions by determining which species are susceptible to damage and whether establishment is hindered by current ambient ozone levels. This information can also be used to infer ecosystem-level consequences of ozone impacts on the target species in this study.

I successfully carried out physiological monitoring of 10 individual Rhus aromatica plants (40 total plants across MEVE, ARCH, COLM, and DINO). I visited each site once per month from May to September. During each visit I surveyed plants for visible signs of ozone damage and never detected visible damage on any of the plants surveyed. During each visit, I measured gas exchange measurements on individual leaves and recorded any relevant environmental data to calibrate measurements for comparison across sites and within sites throughout the seasons. I have also downloaded data from NPS air quality monitors in each park that are measuring ozone levels daily.
This field component was only the first portion of a larger project that is still ongoing. We have yet to fully analyze field data but will do so in the coming months. I am now using field data to calibrate a greenhouse experiment that will investigate ozone impacts on seedlings and will tie all of our field observations to experimental work. This will be finalized into a full, richer report that will be provided to park managers for feedback this year. We will also include data and data summaries in the full report and will deposit all data (i.e., site locality data, gas exchange data, field notes) to park managers at the conclusion of the experiment.

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