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Measuring Air Pollutant Uptake by Plants: Nitrogen Dioxide
Author(s) -
Rogers Hugo H.,
Jeffries Harvey E.,
Witherspoon Augustus M.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1979.00472425000800040022x
Subject(s) - nitrogen dioxide , photosynthetically active radiation , nitrogen , chemistry , photodissociation , loblolly pine , reaction rate constant , glycine , carbon dioxide , botany , zoology , environmental chemistry , pinus <genus> , kinetics , photosynthesis , biology , photochemistry , amino acid , biochemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
Direct kinetic determinations of the uptake of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) by selected plant species under various conditions were made using continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) techniques. Second‐order rate constants with respect to exposure concentration and leaf area were obtained for corn [ Zea mays (L.) ‘Pioneer Brand 3369A’], soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr. ‘Davis’], loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.), and white oak ( Quercus alba L.). Mean rate constants in units of 10 −3 dm −2 min −1 were: corn, 9.3; soybean, 13.6; loblolly pine, 13.7; and white oak, 2.8. On a mass basis, rates would be 3.5, 5.1, 5.2, and 1.1 × 10 −2 µ g dm −2 min −1 pphm −1 (pphm = parts per hundred million), respectively. Uptake rate constants remained the same over 5‐hour exposure periods within the exposure concentration range of 0 to 58 pphm. The NO 2 uptake increased as the level of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) increased. This effect of light was linearly correlated with the inverse of total diffusive resistance. Varying the level of tissue nitrogen (N) did not influence NO 2 uptake even though the leaves were smaller and chlorotic at the lower levels of tissue N. Photolysis of NO 2 occurred in controlled environment rooms under artificial light; the mean k 1 for photolysis was 0.03 min −1 .