Appalachian’s Dr. Howard Neufeld contributes to global research on plant-damaging ozone pollution

BOONE, N.C. — A study published June 28 in the journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene that examines global ozone pollution trends has worldwide implications for plants and key crops.

The research for the article, titled “Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report: Present-day tropospheric ozone distribution and trends relevant to vegetation,” was conducted by 24 international researchers, including Dr. Howard Neufeld, a professor in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State University. Neufeld is a specialist in physiological plant ecology, plant–water relations, climate change and air pollution effects on plants.

The researchers anticipate their effort will provide scientists, regulators and policymakers with better insight about spatial and temporal variation that relate to climate change, human health and crops/ecosystems around the world. A summary of the study was published by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES).

Part of a series of papers summarizing tropospheric ozone trends worldwide, the study represents the first attempt to collate all the data on the Earth’s ozone from all of the available monitoring stations around the globe. The project is known as the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR). So far, six other research papers have been published in the series, and Neufeld said several additional papers from other researchers may soon be included.

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Plant-Damaging Ozone Pollution Highest in East Asia but Declining in North America

New study looks at global ozone pollution trends for plants and key crops

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

July 11, 2018

Ozone pollution can harm rice, wheat, and other crops and plants, and a new global assessment shows plant-damaging ozone levels declining in North America, stable in Europe, and rising significantly in East Asia.

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Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report: Present-day tropospheric ozone distribution and trends relevant to vegetation

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

June 28, 2018

This Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) on the current state of knowledge of ozone metrics of relevance to vegetation (TOAR-Vegetation) reports on present-day global distribution of ozone at over 3300 vegetated sites and the long-term trends at nearly 1200 sites. TOAR-Vegetation focusses on three metrics over vegetation-relevant time-periods across major world climatic zones: M12, the mean ozone during 08:00–19:59; AOT40, the accumulation of hourly mean ozone values over 40 ppb during daylight hours, and W126 with stronger weighting to higher hourly mean values, accumulated during 08:00–19:59.

Although the density of measurement stations is highly variable across regions, in general, the highest ozone values (mean, 2010–14) are in mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, including southern USA, the Mediterranean basin, northern India, north, north-west and east China, the Republic of Korea and Japan. The lowest metric values reported are in Australia, New Zealand, southern parts of South America and some northern parts of Europe, Canada and the USA. Regional-scale assessments showed, for example, significantly higher AOT40 and W126 values in East Asia (EAS) than Europe (EUR) in wheat growing areas (p < 0.05), but not in rice growing areas. In NAM, the dominant trend during 1995–2014 was a significant decrease in ozone, whilst in EUR it was no change and in EAS it was a significant increase.

TOAR-Vegetation provides recommendations to facilitate a more complete global assessment of ozone impacts on vegetation in the future, including: an increase in monitoring of ozone and collation of field evidence of the damaging effects on vegetation; an investigation of the effects on peri-urban agriculture and in mountain/upland areas; inclusion of additional pollutant, meteorological and inlet height data in the TOAR dataset; where not already in existence, establishing new region-specific thresholds for vegetation damage and an innovative integration of observations and modelling including stomatal uptake of the pollutant.

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About the Department of Biology

The Department of Biology is a community of teacher-scholars, with faculty representing the full breadth of biological specializations — from molecular genetics to landscape/ecosystem ecology. The department seeks to produce graduates with sound scientific knowledge, the skills to create new knowledge, and the excitement and appreciation of scientific discovery. Learn more at https://biology.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is home to 16 academic departments, one stand-alone academic program, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. There are approximately 6,100 student majors in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing Appalachian's general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier, public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

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