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Injury to ozone
sensitive forest plants, because high concentrations of ozone can
alter forest ecosystems by reducing the growth and survival of ozone-sensitive
plants. (Fig. 1)
Other measures,
including heavy-metal contamination, will be considered in preparation
of the 2001 report.
In pilot-scale
surveys, symptoms of ozone injury on foliage were observed in some parts
of New England, the Great Lakes region, and the western Mid-Atlantic
region.
| Injury
To Ozone Sensitive Plants (1) Technical
Note |
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| Source:
USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Monitoring |
This map
shows an index of damage to certain species of plants that are
especially likely to be damaged by high concentrations of ozone.
Areas with darker colors indicate higher levels of damage. Areas
that are unshaded were not part of this program.
Ozone,
a highly reactive form of oxygen, is a natural component of the
atmosphere. However, unnaturally high concentrations of ozone
can be caused by certain air pollutants.
There
is considerable variability in plant sensitivity to ozone within
and among species. Ozone-sensitive plants in the East include
tress such as black cherry, sweetgum, yellow poplar, and white
ash; shrubs such as blackberry and pin cherry; and herbs such
as milkweeds, spreading dogbane, and big leaf aster. In the West,
sensitive species include ponderosa pine, quaking aspen, California
black oak, and red alder; shrubs such as Scouler's willow, chokecherry,
ninebark, huckleberry, blue and red elderberry, western wormwood,
thimbleberry, and mountain snowberry; and herbs such as evening
primrose and mugwort.
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STATUS
OF DATA & OTHER NOTES
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No consistent
or comprehensive national information is available on damage to
ozone-sensitive plants. The data presented here are from the Forest
Service's Forest Inventory and Monitoring Program, which is expected
to provide national information in the future.
No consistent
national information is available on the presence of other contaminants.
We did not select specific measures for forest conditions related
to other contaminants.
Please see
the Technical
Notes for additional information.
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