Ozone exposure-response relationships parametrized for sixteen tree species with varying sensitivity in the United...

It is well known that exposure to ambient O₃ can decrease growth in many tree species in the United States (US). Our study reports experimental data from outdoor open-top chamber (OTC) studies that quantify total biomass response changes for seedlings of 16 species native to western and eastern North America, which were exposed to several levels of elevated O₃ for one or more years. The primary objective of this study is to establish a reference set of parameters for these seedling exposure-response relationships using a 3-month (92 day) 12-hr W126 O₃ metric used by US Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to assess risk to trees from O₃ exposure. We classified the 16 species according to their sensitivity, based on the biomass loss response functions to protect from a 5% biomass loss. The three-month 12-h W126 estimated to result in a 5% biomass loss was 2.5-9.2 ppm-h for sensitive species, 20.8-25.2 ppm-h for intermediate species, and > 28.7 ppm-h for insensitive species. The most sensitive tree species include black cherry, ponderosa pine, quaking aspen, red alder, American sycamore, tulip poplar and winged sumac. These species are ecologically important and widespread across US. The effects of O₃ on whole-plant biomass depended on exposure duration and dynamics and on the number of successive years of exposure. These species-specific exposure-response relationships will allow US agencies and other groups to better estimate biomass losses based on ozone exposures in North America and can be used in risk assessment and scenario analyses.