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Biologic Markers of Air-Pollution Stress and Damage in Forests

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There is not much question about the sensitivity of plants to air pollution, nor is there doubt that air
pollution is affecting forests and agriculture in Europe, North America, Brazil, and elsewhere. The effects on forests are well known—they follow patterns of impoverishment long recognized as the result of chronic
disturbance. Depending on the severity of the disturbance, the results are reduced growth of plants, morbidity of trees, shifts in species, and ultimately, replacement of forests by shrubland, grassland, or barren land that supports little or no vegetation, including agriculture. Once the process starts, it can be difficult to reverse.

Nutrients are lost from plants and soils; nutrient ratios change; the character of the soils changes; and, as the vegetation changes, seed sources are lost as well. Experience is rich, and the causes of damage are known; and so are the cures. But the cures seem expensive; they require specific action aimed at specific pollutants. The costs of cures are well focused and great, while the damage is diffuse and its increments seem small. The familiar cry is for better resolution of the relationships between cause and effect before investing in a cure that might be only marginally effective.

Mean while, the damage accumulates and forests move inexorably down the scale of impoverishment.The difficulties in addressing the effects of air pollution are made worse by the fact that effects of many
types of disturbances are similar and that the responses of plants are responses to general stress and are not easily used to diagnose specific insults. Stress has many causes and collateral effects; such as diseases and pests that become important when plants are otherwise weakened. Sorting out cause and effect has frustrated pathologists and ecologists for years.

In a new effort to address this classical challenge that touches sensitive economic interests and equally
sensitive nerves among scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency sought help from the National Research
Council to review whether recent progress in science might be opening new doors that would lead to more
specific diagnoses and narrow the issues. The Committee on Biologic Markers of Air-Pollutant Damage in Trees
borrowed from experience in diagnosing human disease to search for specific criteria to diagnosis the effects of air pollution on trees and forests. The committee sought the aid of a group of distinguished scholars selected for their recent technical contributions to this difficult topic. This group met with the committee in Little Switzerland, North Carolina, to explore the potential of new approaches. This book is their answer:
progress lags the need, but progress is accumulating. There will be, however, no simple diagnosis. Diagnosis will be a "most probable cause" derived from many lines of evidence, each gathered over time and used with other evidence as the basis of analysis. The potential for progress, however, is real, as shown in this book. It depends on intensified research, but as in medicine, refinements are available now, and others clearly are possible.

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Ketersediaan

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/1414.html

Penerbit

Washington, D.C. : National Academy of Sciences., 1989

Deskripsi Fisik

380 pages, , (1989)

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-309-55549-3

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

KEHUTANAN

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

Versi lain/terkait

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