Abstract
A survey of recent literature on the effects of low levels of air pollutants on plants, and the results of our experiments with low levels of ozone (< 0.1 ppm) on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium) indicate stimulations of various growth parameters when compared with growth in clean, filtered air. Increasing knowledge of the composition of air in various regions of the world has been interpreted by some as evidence of increased air pollution. We argue that such a conclusion may not necessarily be valid, and that the observed levels of individual constituents may be indicative of long-term air composition. The similarity between the ambient levels of pollutants reported from numerous locations and those which result in stimulations of plant growth when compared with clean air, suggests that plants exhibiting such stimulations have adapted to low pollution levels, and hence are at a disadvantage when grown in clean air. We argue that the use of filtered air controls in experiments on the effects of air pollutants on plants is therefore unrealistic and misleading, and should be replaced by the use of ambient levels of pollution.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Low ozone levels stimulated bean growth parameters compared with filtered air.
Verbatim
e0“A survey of recent literature on the effects of low levels of air pollutants on plants, and the results of our experiments with low levels of ozone (< 0.1 ppm) on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium) indicate stimulations of various growth parameters when compared with growth in clean, filtered air”
Claim · model-written summary
Low ozone levels stimulated barley growth parameters compared with filtered air.
- Taxon
- barley
.jpg?width=60)
Hordeum vulgaree0 - Treatment
- low levels of ozone (< 0.1 ppm)e0
- Outcome
- growth parameterse0
- Direction
- stimulationse0
- Comparator
- clean, filtered aire0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“A survey of recent literature on the effects of low levels of air pollutants on plants, and the results of our experiments with low levels of ozone (< 0.1 ppm) on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium) indicate stimulations of various growth parameters when compared with growth in clean, filtered air”
Claim · model-written summary
Low ozone levels stimulated smartweed growth parameters compared with filtered air.
Verbatim
e0“A survey of recent literature on the effects of low levels of air pollutants on plants, and the results of our experiments with low levels of ozone (< 0.1 ppm) on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium) indicate stimulations of various growth parameters when compared with growth in clean, filtered air”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors infer that plants showing low-pollution growth stimulation are adapted to low pollution and disadvantaged in clean air.
- Taxon
- plantsViridiplantaee0
- Outcome
- at a disadvantagee0
- Qualifier
- adapted to low pollution levelse0
Verbatim
e0“suggests that plants exhibiting such stimulations have adapted to low pollution levels, and hence are at a disadvantage when grown in clean air”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend ambient pollution levels as experimental controls instead of filtered air.
- Taxon
- plantsViridiplantaee0
- Outcome
- use of ambient levels of pollutione0
Verbatim
e0“the use of filtered air controls in experiments on the effects of air pollutants on plants is therefore unrealistic and misleading, and should be replaced by the use of ambient levels of pollution”
The same questions in other papers
ozone · growth · Hordeum vulgare (barley)Positive and negative results
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- negative
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- no effect
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See all 7 papers →ozone · growth · Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
6 papers more in this group
See all 10 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.