Air pollution and vegetation: ICP Vegetation annual report 2015/2016

The International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation) was established in 1987. It is led by the UK and has its Programme Coordination Centre at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) in Bangor. It is one of seven ICPs and Task Forces that report to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) on the effects of atmospheric pollutants on different components of the environment (e.g. forests, fresh waters, materials) and health in Europe and North America. Today, the ICP Vegetation comprises an enthusiastic group of scientists from 50 countries, including scientists from outside the UNECE region. An overview of contributions to the WGE workplan and other research activities in the year 2015/16 is provided in this report

Spatial distribution of PAH concentrations and stable isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N) in mosses from three European areas – Characterization by multivariate analysis

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations and N, C stable isotope signatures were determined in mosses Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. from 61 sites of 3 European regions: Île-de-France (France); Navarra (Spain); the Swiss Plateau and Basel area (Switzerland). Total PAH concentrations of 100-700 ng g-1, as well as δ13C values of -32 to -29‰ and δ15N values of -11 to -3‰ were measured. Pearson correlation tests revealed opposite trends between high molecular weight PAH (4-6 aromatic rings) content and δ13C values. Partial Least Square regressions explained the very significant correlations (r > 0.91, p < 0.001) between high molecular weight PAH concentrations by local urban land use (<10 km) and environmental factors such as elevation and pluviometry. Finally, specific correlations between heavy metal and PAH concentrations were attributed to industrial emissions in Switzerland and road traffic emissions in Spain

Vertical variation in photosynthetic parameters in two different tropical forest ecosystems

Màster project submitted to obtain the degree of Master in Biology, specialisation Biodiversity: conservation and restoration. Universiteit Antwerpen. Faculty of Science. Department of Biology. Academic year 2015-2016Forests contribute to the carbon balance as the largest vegetative sink for atmospheric carbon (CO2). Anthropogenic emissions are counteracted by carbon sequestration in trees, but nutrients could be limiting photosynthesis and the effect could possibly be not as large as believed. In tropical forests, phosphorus (P) is only available from weathered bedrock and is thereby in an imbalance with the rising levels of carbon and nitrogen in the atmosphere. If P is limiting carbon uptake in tropical forests, global carbon cycle models are likely overestimating uptake by forests. Another overestimation might be to only conduct photosynthesis measurements on sunlit leaves of the canopy and take this as an overall canopy average, whilst a vertical profile in photosynthesis is very likely. Our study was conducted on two sites of the Amazonian rain forest in French Guiana. Photosynthesis and dark respiration (Rd) was measured of 120 trees in 12 plots per site. The plots were situated along a geographical gradient (at top, slope and bottom) to cover a large variety in soil P concentration. We derived the photosynthetic parameters Vcmax and Jmax from the photosynthesis measurements using the Farquhar model (Farquhar et al., 1980). The measurements were performed at two different height levels in the canopy to investigate the vertical profile. In this study we aimed to relate the spatial and vertical variability to parameters such as leaf P concentration, leaf height, light availability, the specific leaf area and the chlorophyll content (SPAD). Soil P concentrations were correlated with the leaf P concentrations, which indicates P uptake from the soil is limited. There were significant vertical differences in the leaves in Vcmax, Jmax, Rd and leaf P concentrations. We conclude that P limits the photosynthetic capacity in our study areas and vertical profiles of photosynthesis should be taken into account when estimating carbon uptake by a tropical forest ecosystem

Air pollution and vegetation: ICP Vegetation annual report 2013/2014

The International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation) was established in 1987. It is led by the UK and has its Programme Coordination Centre at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in Bangor. It is one of seven ICPs and Task Forces that report to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention) on the effects of atmospheric pollutants on different components of the environment (e.g. forests, fresh waters, materials) and health in Europe and North-America. Today, the ICP Vegetation comprises an enthusiastic group of over 200 scientists from 42 countries, including scientists from outside the UNECE region. An overview of contributions to the WGE workplan and other research activities in the year 2013/14 is provided in this report