Effects of Ozone Exposures on Epicuticular Wax of Ponderosa Pine Needles

Abstract

Two-year-old ponderosa pine (Pinusponderosa L.) seedlings were exposed during the 1989 and 1990 growing seasons to ozone in open-top chambers placed in a forested location at Shirley Meadow, Greenhorn Mountain Range, Sierra Nevada. The ozone treatments were as follows: charcoal-filtered air (CF); charcoal-filtered air with addition of ambient concentrations of ozone (CF + O3); and charcoal-filtered air with addition of doubled concentrations of ozone (CF + 2 x O3). Ozone effects on ponderosa pine seedlings progressed and accumulated over two seasons of exposure. Throughout the first season, increased visible injury and accelerated senescence of the foliage were noted. Subsequently, during the second season of ozone exposure, various physiological and biochemical changes in the foliage took place. All these changes led to reduced growth and biomass of the seedlings. Epistomatal waxes of needles from the CA + 2 x O3 treatment had an occluded appearance. This phenomenon may be caused by earlier phenological development of needles from the high-ozone treatments and disturbed development and synthesis of waxes. It may also be caused by chemical degradation of waxes by exposures to high ozone concentrations.