Table Of ContentEcological Studies, Vol. 134
Analysis and Synthesis
Edited by
M.M. Caldwell, Logan, USA
G. Heldmaier, Marburg, Germany
O.L. Lange, Würzburg, Germany
H. A. Mooney, Stanford, USA
E.-D. Schulze, Jena, Germany
U. Sommer, Kiel, Germany
Ecological Studies
Volumes published since 1992 are listed at the end of this book.
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Paul R. Miller Joe R. McBride
Editors
Oxidant Air Pollution
Impacts in the
Montane Forests of
Southern California
A Case Study of the
San Bernardino Mountains
Foreword by O. Clifton Taylor
With 102 illustrations, 6 in color
Springer
Paul R. Miller Joe R. McBride
USDA Forest Service Department of Environmental
Pacific Southwest Station Science, Policy, and Management
Riverside, CA 92507 University of California
USA Berkeley, CA 94720
USA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oxidant air pollution impacts in the montane forests of Southern
California: a case study of the San Bernardino Mountains/[edited
by] Paul Miller, Joe R. McBride.
p. cm. — (Ecological studies; 134)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4612-7143-7 ISBN 978-1-4612-1436-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4612-1436-6
I. Trees—Effect of air pollution on—California—San Bernardino
Mountains Region—Case studies. 2. Trees—Wounds and injuries—
California—San Bernardino Mountain Region—Case studies.
3. Conifers—Effect of air pollution on—California—San Bernardino
Mountains Region—Case studies. 4. Conifers—Wounds and injuries—
California—San Bernardino Mountain Region—Case studies.
5. Forest ecology—California—San Bernardino Mountains Region—Case
studies. I. Miller, Paul R., 1905- . II. McBride, Joe.
III. Series: Ecological studies: v. 134.
SB745.095 1998
577.377—DC21 98-11498
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Foreword
The geographical location of the San Bernardino Mountains and the regional
climate combine to create a potential for air pollution injury to midelevation
conifer forests. The mountains are located downwind from one of the largest
metropolitan regions in the United States, where accumulation of photochemical
oxidant air pollution is enabled by the marine inversion layer that has a persistent
influence during the summer months. The mixed conifer forest's most important
species, ponderosa pine, was the first to show injury symptoms on needles in the
mid-1950s. The condition was tenned x-disease because the cause was unknown.
Later, the term chlorotic decline ofp onderosa pine was used interchangeably. At
about the same time, experiments were being performed on citrus and grapes
located in the Upland-Ontario area just a few miles upwind and in the urbanized
valley west (upwind) of the San Bernardino Mountains. Whole trees or yines were
enclosed in greenhouses and provided with carbon-filtered air or smoggy ambient
air. The key results of this work included the recognition that leaf injury and
declining yield of fruit were the result of exposure to smoggy air or conversely
that carbon-filtered air protected these crops against injury and loss of yield.
Furthennore, the term oxidant stipple ofg rape, due primarily to ozone. was used
to describe the typical field symptoms on grape leaves.
In the meantime, the possible role of fluoride or sulfur pollutants from a nearby
steel plant in causing injury to cultivated orchards, vineyards, and native vegeta
tion, particularly ponderosa pine, was being investigated. These pollutants were
v
vi Foreword
dismissed as major causal agents. Observations of ornamental pine species in
urban locations identified the same kind of chlorotic mottle symptoms on needles
as were observed on native ponderosa pines. Several fumigation experiments with
ponderosa pine seedlings or branches offield trees culminated as early as 1963 in
publications that described how ozone could induce chlorotic mottle symptoms on
ponderosa pine. Eventually, injury attributable to ozone was described on other
native conifers, including Jeffrey pine, black oak, and white fir. Symptoms were
harder to detect, or absent, on incense cedar, coulter pine, sugar pine, and several
evergreen oaks.
More attention was drawn to ponderosa pine in the early 1970s because weak
ened trees were being killed by pine bark beetles, and sanitation-salvage logging
operations were used to remove weakened trees before infestation. At about this
time, multidisciplinary studies began for the purpose of studying the broader
implications of ozone injury to the mixed conifer forest type (see Introduction). A
feature of this work, which remains important today, was the study of pollutant
effects on a west-to-east gradient of decreasing pollutant exposure. In this volume,
we draw on the individual experiences of about 30 scientists who have contributed
to our collective knowledge of pollutant effects as a result of their research over a
period of up to 30 to 35 years.
The knowledge attained over the years has provided the first ecosystem-level
interpretation of chronic ozone exposure effects on a forest ecosystem in the U.S.
EPA Criteria Documents, used in support of the evaluation of National Air Qual
ity Standards for ozone. The extension of these observations into the future is
clearly an advantage because few forest ecosystems in the West have quality
assured data sets with this length of record. These results could be integrated into
broader programs such as the National Environmental Monitoring Initiative. Iron
ically, the area has been regarded as somewhat ofa pariah because at the extreme
it represents a higher level of ozone exposure than has been observed anywhere in
the United States. This is correct; however, observations have always been made
at points on a gradient of decreasing pollutant exposure. Injury levels from other
forested regions, particularly the Sierra Nevada and other southern California
mountain ranges, have been carefully compared with the entire gradient of
exposure/injury in the San Bernardino Mountains, and greater meaning can be
attached to these observations. In addition, an important cause of the air pollution
in the San Bernardino Mountains is the area's proximity to heavily urbanized
areas-a condition becoming increasingly important for other forested areas in
California and the West.
Air monitoring records for ozone from the South Coast Air Basin of California
have shown steadily improving conditions. As reported in this volume, tree
damage from ozone is also on the decline, but it has not reached levels below the
threshold for chronic injury. At the same time, we have become aware of the
increasing direct and indirect effects of nitrogen deposition in several fonns. We
do not yet fully understand how "nitrogen saturation" and ozone may interact. In
light of the population increases predicted for the future, it is uncertain if current
Foreword
VII
pollution control measures will continue to be adequate. The forests of the San
Bernardino Mountains will continue to be an important monitor of progress in the
protection of our air environment.
Riverside, California O. Clifton Taylor
Acknowledgments
A number of individuals are deserving of recognition because of their pioneering
efforts during the earliest phases of work to investigate the cause of x-disease of
ponderosa pine. These individuals include James Asher. Robert Bega. Eugene
Cardiff. Fields Cobb. Donald Dahlsten. Tom Neff. Richard Parmeter. Jr .. B.L.
Richards. and O. Clifton Taylor. During the first multidisciplinary study between
1974 and 1979. the research group was managed and guided by O. Clifton Taylor
and Joe R. McBride. Co-investigators were Rod Arkely. Johan Brun. Fields Cobb.
Donald Dahlsten. Robert L. James. Ronald N. Kickert. Richard Laven. Robert
Luck. Clif Ohmart. D.L. Rowney. Marshall White. Wayne Wilcox. and others
from the University of California. Berkeley. Ronald Kickert deserves particular
recognition for his early application of simulation modeling techniques as a way
of integrating EPA-sponsored research and for completing the organization of the
computerized project database. culminating in about 1979.
Throughout the past 30 years, we are grateful for the research support provided.
at different times. by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. especially the
Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory. the California Air Resources
Board. Research Division. and appropriated funds of the USDA Forest Service.
Pacific Southwest Station. We also appreciate the long-standing support of the
Southern California Edison Company, especially for underwriting the major share
of the publication cost of the color illustrations of this volume. Facilities and
services were provided by the Statewide Air Pollution Research Center at the
University of California. Riverside.
1\
x Acknowledgments
We are particularly grateful to chapter reviewers, namely, Michael Barbour,
John Battles, Allan Bell, Tom Cahill, John Carroll, Susan Conard, Paul Dunn,
Mark Francis, Jay Gamer, Alan Goldstein, David Grahm, David Grantz, William
Hogsett, Jud Isebrands, Theodor Leininger, Gong-yu Lin, Carol Lovatt, John
McColl, William Maim, David Nowak, Dennis Ojima, David Olszyk, David
Peterson, Gregory Reams, Roger Rosentreter, Phillip Rundel, Michael Ryan,
Andrew Sanders, Richard Smith, Ann Sutherland, James Weber, and Arthur
Winer.
Riverside, California Paul R. Miller
Berkeley, California Joe R. McBride
Contents
Foreword by o. Clifton Taylor V
Acknowledgments IX
Contributors xv
Introduction
P.R. Miller and 1.R. McBride
Section 1. Description of Soils, Climate, Natural Resources, and
Their Modification by Anthropogenic Influences
t. Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, and Forest Soils 7
M.A. Poth and P. Wohlgemuth
2. Climatology 28
EM. Fujioka. 1.0. Roads. and S.-c. Chen
3. Vegetation, Fire Regimes, and Forest Dynamics 44
Richard A. Minnich
Xl
