Effects of sulfur-dioxide and selected nutrient solutions upon western wheatgrass

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6799163

Bicak, C J

Sulfur dioxide is a key component of emissions from coal burning power plants. The effect of SO/sub 2/ upon dominant vegetation in the northern mixed prairie, an area in which production and burning of coal are expected to expand, is of considerable importance. Western wheatgrass plants (Agropyron smithii Rydb.) were maintained in nutrient solutions and exposed to different atmoshperic concentrations of SO/sub 2/ and root medium concentrations of sulfate (SO/sub 4/=) in field experiments. Plants were analyzed at three levels of organization: segments of leaf blades, fully expanded leaf blades and tillers. There were substantial gradients of increasing sulfur concentration from the bases to the tips of individual leaf blades. There was also a general increase in sulfur concentration from the youngest to the oldest leaf blade. Differences in sulfur concentration of leaf blade segments and leaf blades were not strongly related to SO/sub 2/ and demonstrates recognizable yet variable patterns of sulfur distribution. The objective of the laboratory experiment was to determine the effect of sulfur nutrition on growth of western wheatgrass. Growth was only minimally affected by three nutrient solution concentrations of SO/sub 4/ = (0 mM, 2 mM, and 4mM). It was concluded that the burning of coal and the maintenance of quality grassland dominated by western wheatgrass are compatible.

• OSTI ID: 6799163
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AIR POLLUTION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
CHALCOGENIDES
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FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
GASEOUS WASTES
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OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANT GROWTH
PLANTS
POLLUTION
POWER PLANTS
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WASTES