Tree ring response of white oak to climate and air pollution near the Ohio River Valley
White oak (Quercus alba L.) tree ring chronologies were compared among five sites representing an apparent gradient of industrial air pollution emitted from sources in a portion of the Ohio River Valley near the southern Ohio-northern Kentucky border. Response functions relating standardized ring-width indices with principal components of climate for sites nearest the industrial area exhibited a strong nonclimatic influence from 1930 to 1978, which did not appear at more remote sites or in the 30 yr before 1930. Response functions for the entire 1900-1978 period declined in reliability to predict indices from climate at sites near the pollution sources, as did the response function derived for the most remote site when used to predict indices at the other four sites. Evidence for nonclimatic influence on indices appeared at all sites between about 1950 and 1966. The altered patterns of tree ring response to climate add to a growing body of evidence for broad-scale changes in tree growth in the Northeast that may be associated with air pollution.
- Research Organization:
- Ohio State Univ., Wooster
- OSTI ID:
- 5768205
- Journal Information:
- J. Environ. Qual.; (United States), Vol. 14:2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACID RAIN
TOXICITY
OZONE
AIR POLLUTION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CLIMATES
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
OAKS
OHIO VALLEY REGION
PLANT GROWTH
SULFUR DIOXIDE
TREE RINGS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CHALCOGENIDES
GROWTH
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
POLLUTION
RAIN
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR OXIDES
TREES
WASTES
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
560303 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Plants- (-1987)