Air pollution vulnerabiity of 22 midwestern parks
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Air pollution increases in United States national parks as sources grow closer. As this happens, biota will be increasingly affected. Can it be determined in advance which parks will be more impacted by these air pollutants that others? This study of 22 park units in the midwestern United States attempted to answer this question. Plant lists were compiled for the 22 parks, relative abundances of all species (common, intermediate, rare) estimated, their sensitivities from their life cycle types (annual, perennial-deciduous, perennial-evergreen) determined, and overall vulnerability as the average product of the two was calculated using a 3-2-1 scale for weighting the abundances. Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska was the most vulnerable park in the region, while Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior was the least. This difference was due to the higher abundances of annual plant species in Scotts Bluff. Changing the values used for abundances changed the order of park vulnerabilites. Three air pollutants (ozone, sulfur dioxide, and sulfate) were found to increase from west to east in the midwest. Overlaying these patterns on the park vulnerabilities, and a customer analysis of the data, resulted in a determination of the air pollution risks to groups of parks. The parks most at risk (high vulnerability+high pollution levels) were two in Ohio (Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area) and one in Indiana (Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial). Ten parks were grouped at lowest risk in an arc from Lake Superior, northern Minnesota, and Wisconsin through Nebraska and Kansas. Of three different surrogate methods tested for a relationship with overall vulnerability, only one appeared to be useful. Vulnerability could be directly calculated if a park`s vegetative structure was known without assembling the complete flora. 22 refs., 7 figs., 9 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 387426
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 44, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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