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Evidence Project Final Report

EVID4 Evidence Project Final Report (Rev. 10/14) Page 1 of 25

NoteIn line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Defra aims to place the results of its completed research projects in the public domain wherever possible. The Evidence Project Final Report is designed to capture the information on the results and outputs of Defra-funded research in a format that is easily publishable through the Defra websiteAn Evidence Project Final Report must be completed for all projects.

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Project identification

1. Defra Project code AQ0833

2. Project title

UNECE International Cooperative Programme on Vegetation

3. Contractororganisation(s)

Centre for Ecology & HydrologyEnvironment Centre WalesDeiniol RoadBangor, LL57 2UW

54. Total Defra project costs £ 428,864.16(agreed fixed price)

5. Project: start date................ 1 April, 2014

end date................. 31 March, 2017


6. It is Defra’s intention to publish this form. Please confirm your agreement to do so...................................................................................YES NO (a) When preparing Evidence Project Final Reports contractors should bear in mind that Defra intends that

they be made public. They should be written in a clear and concise manner and represent a full account of the research project which someone not closely associated with the project can follow.Defra recognises that in a small minority of cases there may be information, such as intellectual property or commercially confidential data, used in or generated by the research project, which should not be disclosed. In these cases, such information should be detailed in a separate annex (not to be published) so that the Evidence Project Final Report can be placed in the public domain. Where it is impossible to complete the Final Report without including references to any sensitive or confidential data, the information should be included and section (b) completed. NB: only in exceptional circumstances will Defra expect contractors to give a "No" answer.In all cases, reasons for withholding information must be fully in line with exemptions under the Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

(b) If you have answered NO, please explain why the Final report should not be released into public domain

Executive Summary7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the

intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together with any other significant events and options for new work.

IntroductionThe International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation) was established in 1987 under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). The ICP Vegetation is an international research programme investigating the impacts of air pollutants on crops and (semi-) natural vegetation and reports to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the LRTAP Convention. The Programme Coordination Centre of the ICP Vegetation is based at Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bangor. Currently, 50 countries take part in the ICP Vegetation network, including 20 countries eligible for Official Development Assisstance (ODA). The work completed between April 2014 and March 2017 was divided into 7 work packages (WP).

WP 1: Coordination and reporting to Defra and the LRTAP ConventionAnnual reporting of results to LRTAP Convention and Defra, annual Task Force meetingRepresentatives of the ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre (PCC) attended and reported on progress with ICP Vegetation activities annually (biannually) at various meetings/workshops within the framework of LRTAP Convention and outside the Convention. Each year the PCC has produced three quarterly reports and one annual report for Defra and discussed progress with the Defra project manager when needed. The PCC organised the annual Task Force meeting in collaboration with the local host, in Rome, Italy in 2015 (80 experts from 22 countries attended, including two ODA countries), in Dubna, Russian Federation in 2016 (90 experts from 33 countries attended, including 14 ODA countries), and in Poznan, Poland in 2017 (88 experts from 23 countries attended, including 5 ODA countries). The website (http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk) was regularly updated with new developments, publications and events.

WP 2: Field evidence of ozone impacts on vegetationAnnual update and summary report on field evidence of ozone effectsIn 2016, the PCC produced a brochure on ‘Field evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation in ambient air (2007-2015)’, based on a comprehensive data collection from various sources, including i) the literature (2007 – 2015), ii) ICP Vegetation monitoring studies to assess leaf injury on ozone-sensitive species; iii) records submitted using the ICP Vegetation App to record visible ozone injury symptoms in the field. Key message are: Widespread impacts of ambient ozone were found on a wide variety of crop, tree and (semi-) natural

vegetation species; Large reductions (up to 23%) in crop yield were found for wheat, rice, soybean and other crops; Impacts on (semi-)natural vegetation are diverse and include visible leaf injury and reductions in


http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/

biomass.

WP 3: Quantifying impacts of ozone (and co-occurring stresses) on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe

Factors influencing ozone effectsIn 2015, the PCC reviewed experimental and published evidence and produced a brochure on ‘Climate change and reactive nitrogen as modifiers of vegetation response to ozone pollution’. Key messages are: Climate, rising carbon dioxide and other pollutants modify responses of vegetation to ozone; As well as directly impacting on plant growth, these modifiers influence the amount of ozone flux into

leaves and hence the magnitude of effect; Responses to gradual, long-term changes in background ozone, reactive nitrogen and climate differ

from responses to extreme pollution and climate events.Ozone risk assessment methodology and critical levels for vegetationThe PCC organised three workshops where the methodology and ozone flux-based critical levels (‘cumulative flux of ozone into leaves above which direct adverse effects on sensitive vegetation may occur according to present knowledge’) for vegetation were updated. Flux-based critical levels are biologically more relevant than concentration-based critical levels as they do take into account the effect of climate, soil and plant factors on the uptake of ozone by vegetation. At the 30th ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting, February, 2017, 16 species-specific and five vegetation-type specific critical levels were adopted, the latter being for use in large scale modelling, including integrated assessment models. Critical levels have been defined for impacts of ozone on crop yield (quantity and quality), forest tree biomass and (semi-)natural vegetation (biomass and flower/seed production).Ozone effects on biodiversity in EuropeFor the first time, data on ozone fluxes into leaves of grassland species were combined with distribution data on Natura 2000 grassland areas. A risk matrix was developed to map European Natura 2000 grassland areas at highest risk from ozone impact. Natura 2000 grassland areas at highest risk from ozone are spread across Central and Southern Europe, in those areas where grasslands are most abundant and where ozone fluxes are medium to high. Areas at highest risk include some Natura2000 sites in southern England, parts of the Iberian Peninsula, the east coast of Spain, southern Italy and south-eastern Europe. Woodland fringes at medium-high risk are most abundant in parts of the Mediterranean and parts of Estonia.

WP4: Implications of hemispheric transport of ozone and its precursorsChanging ozone profile and collaboration with Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air PollutionIn 2015, the PCC analysed data from ICP vegetation sites and produced a brochure on ‘Changing ozone profiles in Europe: implications for vegetation’ (Figure 7). Key messages are: Few trends have been observed at ICP Vegetation monitoring sites between 1999

and 2010 regarding ozone concentrations and risk of ozone impacts on vegetation. Time series much longer than 12 years are required to distinguish significant long-

term trends from inter-annual variability in ozone concentrations due to climate variation. Whereas peak concentrations of ozone have declined in some (but not all) parts of

Europe, an increase in background concentrations has been observed. The PCC co-organised a meeting in China on ozone impacts on plants, May, 2014, attended HTAP meetings and collaborated with HTAP on global assessments of ozone impacts on ozone sensitive crops.

WP 5: Further development of nitrogen and heavy metals activitiesCo-organise workshop on nitrogen and ozone with ICP Modelling and MappingAt the workshop (April, 2015) it was concluded that interactive impacts of ozone and nitrogen pollution on vegetation depend on the process studied and the relative concentration/deposition of both. Impacts are not always additive, for example the relative effects of ozone tend to be greater at higher than lower nitrogen supply.Heavy metals, nitrogen and persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations in mosses The PCC supported the Moss Survey Coordination Centre in the Russian Federation with preparations for the 2015/16 survey, including an update of the manual, and with processing and analysing submitted data; 36 countries participated in the survey, including 14 ODA countries. We are also supporting preparations for the 2020/2021 survey.

WP 6: Additional activities required by the LRTAP Convention and/or Defra.The PCC contributed to the the WGE report on ‘Trends in ecosystems and health responses to long-range transported atmospheric pollutants’ and the LRTAP Convention report ‘Towards Cleaner Air. Scientific Assessment Report 2016’. The latter was presented at the 8th Environmental Ministerial Conference in Butami, Georgia, 8 – 10 June, 2016. A survey of the usefulness of ICP Vegetation outputs in November 2016 showed that a large majority of respondents find the outputs (very) useful.

WP 7: Global impacts of ozone on biodiversity and scoping study for effects of ozone on


vegetation in the UKA new method was developed for indicating the global risk of ozone impacts on biodiversity based on the stomatal uptake of ozone. Areas with the highest ozone flux and highest species richness are found in parts of Brazil, Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo) South-East Asia (South-East China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Indonesia) and to a slightly lower extend in Central America (Mexico) and the Mediterranean. The biome most at risk of adverse impacts of ozone pollution is tropical moist broadleaf forests, followed by temperate broadleaf forests.

This study also developed and applied a methodology for UK reporting under Annex V of the Revised National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NECD) of the EU for ozone damage to biodiversity and vegetation growth, including exceedance of flux-based critical levels. Impacts of ozone in the UK in 2015 included reductions in wheat, potato and oil seed rape yield by ca. 5%, resulting in 0.92 million tonnes of lost grain, 0.3 million tonnes of lost potato tubers and 0.14 million tonnes of lost rapeseed. Critical level exceedance was greatest for woodland habitats (100% exceeded for the UK for the three habitats), intermediate for crops (64.1 and 60.1 % exceedance for wheat and potato), and modest for grassland flower number (14%). The largest impacts on all vegetation types were in S. England.

Project Report to Defra8. As a guide this report should be no longer than 20 sides of A4. This report is to provide Defra with details of

the outputs of the research project for internal purposes; to meet the terms of the contract; and to allow Defra to publish details of the outputs to meet Environmental Information Regulation or Freedom of Information obligations. This short report to Defra does not preclude contractors from also seeking to publish a full, formal scientific report/paper in an appropriate scientific or other journal/publication. Indeed, Defra actively encourages such publications as part of the contract terms. The report to Defra should include: the objectives as set out in the contract; the extent to which the objectives set out in the contract have been met; details of methods used and the results obtained, including statistical analysis (if appropriate); a discussion of the results and their reliability; the main implications of the findings; possible future work; and any action resulting from the research (e.g. IP, Knowledge Exchange).IntroductionThe International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation) was established in 1987 under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). The ICP Vegetation is an international research programme investigating the impacts of air pollutants on crops and (semi-) natural vegetation and reports to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the LRTAP Convention. The Programme Coordination Centre of the ICP Vegetation is based at Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bangor. Countries (50) currently taking part in the ICP Vegetation network are listed in Table 1, including 20 countries eligible for Official Development Assisstance (ODA). The work between April 2014 and March 2017 was devided into 7 work packages (WP).

Table 1. Countries participating in the ICP Vegetation. In bold: country eligible for ODA.

Albania Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Bulgaria Canada China Croatia Cuba

Czech RepublicDenmarkEgyptEstoniaFinland France FYR of MacedoniaGeorgiaGermanyGreece

GuatamalaHungaryIcelandIndiaIrelandItalyJapanKazakhstanLatviaLithuania

MoldovaMongoliaNorwayPakistanPoland RomaniaRussian Federation SerbiaSlovakiaSlovenia

South AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUkraineUKUSAVietnam

WP 1: Coordination and reporting to Defra and the LRTAP Convention.

Please note that this WP was co-funded by the Trust Fund of the LRTAP Convention.

Objective 1: Disseminate to Defra, the LRTAP Convention and the public, information on the outcome of the programmes of the ICP Vegetation and to organise the annual Task Force meeting – fully met.


Annual reporting of results to LRTAP Convention (deliverables 1-3, including ODA)

The Chair of the ICP Vegetation attended the annual meetings of the Working Group on Effects, held jointly with the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) in September each year. At these meetings, he gave presentations on the deliverables of the ICP Vegetation for the biannual work plan of the LRTAP Convention, as reported in this document. These deliverables were also reported in the following state of knowledge reports prepared for the meeting each year (see Section 9 for details): ICP Vegetation technical report (‘Effects of air pollution on natural vegetation and crops’), joint WGE-EMEP report (‘Joint progress report on policy-relevant scientific findings’) and the annual ICP Vegetation report (‘Air pollution and vegetation’). In 2014, the ICP Vegetation also prepared the following state of knowledge report: ‘Deposition of air pollutants to vegetation in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central and South-East Asia and their impacts’ (ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2014/13). In 2015, the ICP Vegetation contributed text and had editorial responsibility for the WGE Trends Report (‘Trends in ecosystems and health responses to long-range-transported atmospheric pollutants’) and in 2016, the ICP Vegetation contributed text to the WGE-EMEP scientific assessment report (‘Towards cleaner air: Scientific assessment report 2016’) (see WP 6 for details). In 2016, the Chair of the ICP Vegetation organised and chaired a thematic session on ozone issues at the joint WGE-EMEP meeting. In March each year, the Chair of the ICP Vegetation attended the annual meetings of the Extended Bureaus of the WGE and EMEP to prepare for the annual joint WGE-EMEP meeting in September.

Representatives of the ICP Vegetation PCC attended and reported on progress with ICP Vegetation activities annually or biannually at the following meetings/workshops:

ICP Modelling and Mappping Task Force meeting/Workshop of the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE);

ICP Forests Task Force meeting and Scientific Conference; Integrated Assessment Modelling Task Force meeting; Workshop of the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (see WP 4); Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR); Climate and Clear Air Coalition (CCAC).

The PCC has liaised regularly with various bodies of the LRTAP Convention to enable delivery of current and development of new work plan items, bearing in mind the implementation of the long-term strategy of the LRTAP Convention. Throughout the contract period, the PCC has also provided input to the discussions on the revision of the EU National Emissions Ceilings (NEC) Directive (Directive 2003/35/EC), in particular regarding monitoring of impacts of air pollutants on vegetation. In 2017, the PCC provided an overview to the European Commission on ICP Vegetation monitoring activities and assessments of exceedances of ozone flux-based critical levels, of relevance to Article 9 and Annex V of the revised NEC Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2284), which came into force in December 2016. The input from the ICP Vegetation will be discussed at an ambient air quality expert group workshop, 3-4 April 2017, Brussels, on the implementation and compliance with the new NEC Directive, where the Head of the PCC will give a presentation, including results from WPs 2, 3 and 7.

Annual reporting of results to Defra (deliverables 4-6)

Each year the ICP Vegetation produced three quarterly reports and one annual report for Defra. On 10 th March 2016, the Chair and Head of the PCC also had a meeting in London with the Air Quality Team of Defra, reporting on evidence collated by the ICP Vegetation on impacts of air pollutants on vegetation (see WP 2) and discussing progress with all the deliverables of this project. Since October 2016, the PCC also had monthly telecoms with the Defra project officer to discuss progress with deliverables, variations to the contract and preparations for the next contract.

Annual Task Force meeting of the ICP Vegetation (deliverables 7-9, including ODA)

The PCC organised the following Task Force Meetings (TFM) in collaboration with the local hosts: 28th TFM, 3-5 February 2015, Rome, Italy; attended by 80 experts from 22 countries (including the ODA countries FYR of Macedonia and Egypt);

29th TFM, 29 February-3 March 2016, Dubna, Russian Federation; attended by 90 experts from 33 countries (including the ODA countries Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, Guatamala, India, Kazakhstan, FYR of Macedonia, Mongolia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine);30th TFM, 14-17 February 2017, Poznan, Poland; attended by 88 experts from 23 countries (including the ODA countries Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Turkey).

At each TFM, progress with ongoing ICP Vegetation activities and development of new activities were discussed as presented in this report, and the medium-term workplan of the ICP Vegetation was updated (see future work). Overview presentations were given by members of the PCC, a book of abstracts and


minutes were produced; the latter two documents were made available on the ICP Vegetation web site.

Other generic activities conducted in WP 1 included regular updates of the ICP Vegetation web site (http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk), providing details about events, publications and manuals such as Chapter 3 (‘Mapping critical levels for vegetation’) of the Modelling and Mapping Manual of the LTRAP Convention (see WP 3) and the moss monitoring manual (see WP 5), including a Russian version to reach out to countries in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA region). The web site included a page for submitting recordings on ozone-induced visible leaf injury using a smart-phone App (see WP 2 for details). Links are also available to other ICPs/Task Force on Health, EMEP web sites and the latest version of the DO3SE (Deposition of Ozone for Stomatal Exchange) model hosted on the web site of SEI-York (see WP 3).

WP 2: Field evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation.

Objective 2: Coordinate ICP Vegetation biomonitoring of ozone impacts on vegetation as an outreach activity and report on the outcome – not fully met, but additional work done to compensate, with the agreement of the contract officer.

Objective 3: Disseminate web- and iphone app-based method for recording ozone damage in the field and analysis of collected spatial data to indicate extent of effects – not fully met, but additional work done to compensate, with the agreement of the contract officer.

Objective 4: Report to the LRTAP Convention on field-based evidence of ozone damage – fully met.

Annual summary of field evidence of ozone effects on vegetation (deliverables 10, 11, 13, including ODA) and summary report on field evidence of ozone effects (deliverable 12, including ODA)

In 2014, seven countries requested bean seeds of an ozone-sensitive and ozone-resistant variety to monitor ozone-induced leaf injury: UK, France, Poland, Italy, Niger, Algeria and China. However, only Italy, Poland and China submitted data to the PCC. Ozone-visible injury on bean leaves was observed on the ozone-sensitive variety in these three countries. In China (Beijing and Quzhou), similar symptoms were observed in local cultivars of bean. Ozone concentrations were higher at the two sites in China compared to the European sites, with hourly ozone concentrations frequently exceeding 100 ppb in Beijing. The pod and seed biomass of the sensitive compared to resistant variety was substantially reduced at the two sites in China, with the weight of seeds per plant reduced by 20 and 35% at Quzhou and Beijing respectively. In 2015, the PCC developed a protocol for the establishment of ‘ozone gardens’, consisting of ozone-sensitive plant species (including bean), and encouraged ICP Vegetation participants to establish such gardens as biomonitoring tool for assessing ozone-induced leaf injury. The concept of ozone gardens was first developed by NASA in the USA. In 2015, ozone gardens were established at Bangor (UK), Poznan (Poland) and Paris (France); Bangor and Poznan established ozone gardens again in 2016. In both years, ozone-induced leaf injury was observed in ozone-sensitive plant species in Poznan but not in Bangor. Data from the ozone-biomonitoring experiments conducted in 2014 and 2015 are included in the map shown in Figure 1 (see below).

The smart phone App. for recording incidences of ozone injury in the field (developed under the previous contract AQ0816) was made available to ozone experts to download from the ICP Vegetation website at the beginning of April 2014. Guidelines on how to download and use the App. were circulated and made available on the website. Throughout the spring and summer of 2014, experts in Europe, Asia and the USA trialled the App and constructive, positive feedback was received. Although the trial was successful, the number of records of visible leaf injury was lower than expected in 2014 and following years. This might be attributed to the fact that peak ozone concentrations during ozone episodes have been declining in recent years in Europe and the USA, potentially resulting in less visible leaf injury symptoms. In addition, ozone experts spend less time out in the field surveying vegetation for ozone damage, often due to lack of funds, and weather conditions in 2014 and 2015 have resulted in lower than average ozone concentrations. For example, many parts of Europe experienced cold and wet conditions in the summer of 2014, whereas parts of southern Europe, for example central Spain, experienced hot, dry conditions during the growing season, with annual pastures dying early at the end of May. Rolling out the App to the general public in the UK was not possible as Defra was unable to give approval for a press release in spring 2015 during episodes of high ground-level ozone concentrations that might have resulted in visible leaf damage in some areas.

To compensate for the limited number of records submitted from biomonitoring experiments and via the App, a literature search was carried out to collate further field-based evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation. This data was added to the existing ICP Vegetation database containing data up to 2006 and used to produce the report on ‘Evidence of widespread ozone damage to vegetation in Europe (1990-



2006)’ in 2007 during a previous contract (http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk). A total of 191 records worldwide of ozone damage to trees, crops, grassland species and shrubs were obtained from a literature search in Web of Science for the period 2007-2015, using the search term “visible injury.” Additional records from a USDA forest survey were also added to the database (700 records), enabling global maps of the locations of visible injury to be produced. Between 2007 and 2010, 24% of all the leaves sampled from 25 states had ozone-induced visible leaf injury. A total of 43 records were submitted to the ozone injury smart phone App in 2014-2015, from 8 countries around the world. Records of ozone damage gathered during ICP Vegetation biomonitoring experiments between 2007 and 2014 on French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris; n=42) and white clover (Trifolium repens; n=18), were also added to the database. The locations of the recorded incidences of ozone damage to vegetation between 2007 and 2015 in Europe are shown in Figure 1b. Injury has primarily been recorded in areas where the flux-based critical level, as an example shown here for crops (Figure 1a), was exceeded. These data provide further evidence, as shown in the evidence report from 2007 (see above), that ozone-damage to vegetation is widespread and occurring in areas where flux-based critical levels for ozone are exceeded.

Figure 1. Ozone flux to crop species (POD3IAM) averaged for 2007 – 2011 (left; dark green: ozone fluxes below the critical level) and locations in Europe (right) where ozone-induced leaf damage was observed between 2007 and 2015.

Additional observation of ozone-induced leaf injury have been reported for trees in forests in Europe. In 2016, the ICP Forests reported on spatial and temporal distribution of ozone symptoms across Europe from 2002 to 2014 (Chapter 5, 2016 Technical report of the ICP Forests, ISBN 978-3-902762-65-8, ISNN 1811-3044). Of the species assessed, 26% had developed ozone visible leaf injury, with beech being the most sensitive species. There was a slight declining trend in mean frequency of observed leaf injury with time.

The above information has been reported at meetings of the LRTAP Convention as detailed under WP 1. Future developments include assessment of epidemiological data and how this might be used to provide further field-based evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation. The PCC attended two workshops on this subject: 1) Workshop on ‘Epidemiological analysis of air pollution effects on vegetation’, organised by Switzerland, September 2014, Basel, and 2) A follow-on workshop organised by Sweden, November 2015, Hindås, both organised as a contribution in kind to the ICP Vegetation. Methodologies were reviewed and discussed on how epidemiological data might also be used to provide further field-based evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation. Epidemiological approaches can disentangle and quantify the contributions of different predictor variables to an overall effect e.g. plant growth. Although epidemiological analysis cannot prove causality, they can provide strong indications for causality, which can be verified in

experimental studies.

In 2016, the PCC produced a brochure on ‘Field evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation in ambient air (2007-2015)’ (Figure 2). The brochure contains a summary of evidence from filtered-air experiments (reducing ambient ozone to more or less ‘pre-industrial’ concentrations), biomonitoring studies and observations of visible leaf injury symptoms (see above) and evidence from epidemiological studies on trees (see below).

Field evidence shows that: Widespread impacts of ambient ozone were found on a wide variety of

crop, tree and (semi-)natural vegetation species; Large reductions (up to 23%) in crop yield have been attributed to

ozone for wheat, rice, soybean and other legumes; Impacts on (semi-)natural vegetation are diverse and include visible

leaf injury and reductions in biomass.



Figure 2. Brochure on ‘Field evidence of zone impacts on vegetation in ambient air (2017-2015)’. http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk

In Switzerland, based on measurements on approximately 4800 trees it was estimated that the reduction in annual growth rate due to ozone pollution was 19.5% for deciduous and 6.6% for coniferous forests during the period 1991–2011 (Braun et al., 2014. Environmental Pollution 192: 129-138). This agreed well with European estimates of growth reductions based on the calculated ozone uptake. In northern Italy and southern France epidemiological analysis has been used to show that ozone injury symptoms on forest trees were better explained by the accumulated ozone uptake in leaves than the accumulated ozone concentrations at vegetation height (Sicard et al., 2016. Science of the Total Environment 541: 729-741).

WP 3: Quantifying impacts of ozone (and co-occurring stresses) on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe.

Objective 5: Further development and application of the risk assessment methods for ozone, including revised critical levels for effects on ecosystem services and biodiversity and influence of interacting factors – fully met.

Objective 6: Quantify the potential effects of ozone on biodiversity in Europe, including the link to valuation – fully met, although link to valuation not pursued, with the agreement of the contract officer.

Summary report on factors influencing ozone effects (deliverable 14).

In 2015, the PCC produced a brochure on ‘Climate change and reactive nitrogen as modifiers of vegetation response to ozone pollution’ (Figure 3). The brochure contains a summary on the interactive impacts of ozone and nitrogen pollution and ozone and climate change (warming, increased drought, elevated carbon dioxide) on vegetation and describes how ozone impacts on the global carbon and water cycle feeds back to the climate. Interactions are often non-linear, not simply additive and therefore need complex modelling to predict impacts. More field-based data is needed on the response of crops and ecosystems to multiple stresses to support the development, parameterisation and validation of multi-factor models capable of predicting multi-stress impacts on a range of spatial and temporal scales. Further details can be found in the paper (Mills et al., 2016. Environmental Pollution 208: 898-908).

Figure 3. Brochure on ‘Climate change and reactive nitrogen as modifiers of vegetation response to ozone pollution’. http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk

Key messages are:* Climatic conditions, rising carbon dioxide and other pollutants modify the responses of vegetation to ozone (Figure 4);

* As well as directly impacting on plant growth, these modifiers influence the amount of ozone flux into leaves by causing changes in the opening or closing of leaf pores through which ozone enters the leaf and causes damage. Hence, the Phytoxic Ozone Dose (POD) is altered by these modifiers, leading to changes in the magnitude of effects on growth, crop yield and ecosystem services;* Responses to gradual, long-term changes in background ozone (see WP 4), reactive nitrogen and climate differ from responses to extreme pollution and climate events, likely to become more

frequent in the coming decades.

Rising carbon dioxide concentrations and ozone often affect vegetation in opposite directions, with rising carbon dioxide stimulating plant growth of many species whilst elevated ozone reduces plant growth in sensitive species. The response of vegetation to a combination of elevated carbon dioxide and ozone is finely balanced depending on their relative concentrations in the atmosphere. Nitrogen tends to increase plant growth and crop yield, whereas ozone has the opposite effect with high concentrations tending to reduce root growth and seed production more than shoot growth. Reduced root growth will result in less nitrogen uptake from the soil and a lower nitrogen use efficiency of the plant, both in crops and (semi-)natural vegetation. Effects on plants tend to be mainly additive, but are generally less than additive at high nitrogen and ozone exposure (Figure 5).




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Figure 4. Modifying effect of nitrogen on the response to ozone of above-ground (left) and root biomass (right) of the grass species Dactylis glomerata (Cocksfoot). At high ozone, the stimulating effect of nitrogen on biomass is reduced (above-ground) or has even disappeared (roots; modified from Wyness et al., 2011. Environmental Pollution 159: 2493-2499).

Ozone critical levels workshop (deliverable 15) and revised ozone risk assessment methodology and critical levels for vegetation (deliverables 16-18).

The PCC organised the following two workshops for invited experts in preparation for the ozone critical levels workshop in 2016 in Spain:

‘Methodology for ozone critical levels analysis’, 24-25 November, 2015, Hind å s, Sweden .

The workshop was jointly hosted by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) and the University of Gothenburg, with contributions in kind towards the meeting costs received from BECC and SCAC, two research programs financed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The workshop was attended by 27 experts from 7 countries.

‘Dose-response functions for deriving critical levels’, 7-9 June, 2016, Deganwy, UK.

The workshop was hosted by the PCC, with contributions in kind towards the meeting costs received from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The workshop was attended by 16 experts from 6 countries. The workshop reviewed the current ozone flux-effect relationships and discussed the development of new ones. The workshop agreed on the content of the background document for the ozone critical level workshop in Spain and the methodology for calculating critical levels. In addition, revision of the structure of Chapter 3 of the Modelling and Mapping Manual of the LRTAP Convention was discussed.

The PCC organised the UNECE ozone critical levels workshop, 7-8 November, 2016, Madrid, Spain, in collaboration with the local host CIEMAT, with contributions in kind from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment and Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competiveness towards meeting costs. The workshop was attended by 25 experts from 8 countries. The PCC and sub-contractors at SEI-York contributed to 5 out of 11 background documents prepared for the workshop, including updated ozone flux-effect relationships and provisional new ozone flux-based critical levels for crops, forest trees and (semi-)natural vegetation. As not all critical levels could be finalized at the workshop, it was agreed to make a final decision on the revision of ozone critical levels for vegetation at the 30 th ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting, 14-17 February, 2017, Poznan, Poland (see WP 1). An editorial group led by the PCC was established to revise Chapter 3 of the Modelling and Mapping Manual and to develop two scientific background documents as supplementary material for Chapter 3: A) containing additional information on ozone flux models and methodology for local or regional application for (group of) species included in Chapter 3 and for additional species; B) Containing information on developing areas and new directions of research. Chapter 3 has been completely re-written to make it more streamlined and easier to follow, and is now 65 pages long compared to 160 pages long in the earlier version (many details have been moved to the Scientific Background Documents). The aim is to review Chapter 3 of the Modelling and Mapping Manual every 3-5 years, whilst the background documents can be amended every year, based on decisions at the annual ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting.

Scientific evidence suggests that observed effects of ozone on vegetation are more strongly related to the uptake of O3 through the stomatal leaf pores than to the ozone concentration in the atmosphere around the plants. Stomata (leaf pores) are physiologically controlled and respond to environmental conditions such as temperature, light, air humidity and soil moisture, as well as plant growth stage. For example, under hot and dry conditions, plants close their stomata to reduce water loss and as a consequence ozone uptake is reduced. The DO3SE model (Deposition of Ozone for Stomatal Exchange;


https://www.sei-international.org/do3se) has been developed to account for the variation in stomatal opening and closing with climatic, soil and plant factors. This model is used to determine the Phytotoxic Ozone Dose above a threshold flux of Y (PODY), which is the accumulated stomatal ozone uptake during daylight hours and a specified time period. Two different metrics have been developed by the ICP Vegetation for PODY, depending on the complexity of the model and its application:

PODYSPEC is a species (group)-specific PODY that requires comprehensive input data and is suitable for detailed risk assessment.

PODYIAM is a vegetation-type specific PODY that requires less input data and is suitable for large-scale modelling, including integrated assessment modelling.

A third metric that is being used is based on the concentration of ozone near the leaf surface of vegetation:

AOT40 is the sum of the differences between the hourly mean ozone concentration (in ppb) and a threshold value of 40 ppb when the concentration exceeds 40 ppb during daylight hours, accumulated over a stated time period.

After the three workshops and the Task Force Meeting, the ICP Vegetation concluded that it continues to recommend that flux-based PODY metrics are preferred in risk assessment over the concentration-based AOT40 exposure index. AOT40 only accounts for the atmospheric ozone concentration above the leaf surface and is therefore biologically less relevant for ozone impact assessment than PODY as it does not take into account how ozone uptake is affected by climate, soil and plant factors. This is particularly relevant on the pan-European scale with large climate differences between different regions. AOT40-based approach predicts a different spatial pattern of impacts than PODY. The fully revised Chapter 3 of the Modelling and Mapping Manual (http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk) contains a flow chart and table of input requirements to help users to choose which metric to use, depending on data availability and application. In a new development, for calculating flux-based critical levels and the risk of impacts on vegetation, ‘pre-industrial’ ozone fluxes are first calculated at a constant hourly ozone concentration of 10 ppb (estimated pre-industrial mean ozone concentration) and set as a reference (Ref10 PODY). The ICP Vegetation recommends that for PODYSPEC, the percentage maximum effect due to ozone impact should be calculated as follows:

(PODYSPEC – Ref10 PODYSPEC)* % reduction per unit PODYSPEC.

For PODYIAM, the above approach can only be applied for crops (using PODYIAM instead of PODYSPEC), not for forest trees or (semi-)natural vegetation.

Table 2 and 3 provide an overview of flux-based ozone critical levels, as agreed at the 30th ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting. No changes were made to the concentration-based ozone critical levels at 30 th ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting.

Table 2. Flux-based ozone critical levels for species or group of species (PODYSPEC), as agreed at the 30th ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting.

Species (group)

Effect parameter

Biogeo-graphical region*

Potential effect at CL (% reduction)

Critical level(mmol m-2 PLA)**

Ref10 PODY

(mmol m-2 PLA)

Potential maximum rate of reduction (%) unit POD6SPEC***

Crops (POD6SPEC)

Wheat Grain yield A,B,C,M (S,P)**** 5% 1.3 0.0 3.85

Wheat 1000-grain weight

A,B,C,M (S,P)**** 5% 1.5 0.0 3.35

Wheat Protein yield A,B,C,M (S,P)**** 5% 2.0 0.0 2.54

Potato Tuber yield A,B,C (M,S,P) 5% 3.8 0.0 1.34

Tomato Fruit yield M (A,B,C,S,P) 5% 2.0 0.0 2.53

Tomato Fruit quality M (A,B,C,S,P) 5% 3.8 0.0 1.30

Forests trees (POD1SPEC)Beech and birch

Whole tree biomass

B,C(A,S,P) 4% 5.2 0.9 0.93

Norway spruce

Whole tree biomass

B,C(A,S,P) 2% 9.2 0.1 0.22

Med. deciduous oaks

Whole tree biomass M 4% 14.0 1.4 0.32

Med. deciduous oaks

Root biomass M 4% 10.3 1.4 0.45

Med. evergreen

Above-ground biomass

M 4% 47.3 3.5 0.09

(Semi-)natural vegetation (POD1SPEC)Temperate perennial grassland

Above- ground biomass

A, B,C(S,P) 10% 10.2 0.1 0.99

Temperate perennial grassland

Total biomass

A, B,C(S,P) 10% 16.2 0.1 0.62

Temperate perennial grassland

Flower number

A, B,C(S,P) 10% 6.6 0.1 1.54

Med. annual pasture

Above- ground biomass

M 10% 16.9 5.2 0.85

Med. annual pasture

Flower/ seed biomass M 10% 10.8 4.6 1.61

* A = Atlantic, B = Boreal, C = Continental, M = Mediterranean, P = Pannonian, S = Steppic; Derived for regions not in brackets, but could also be applied to regions in brackets.** Represents the (POD6SPEC – Ref10 POD6SPEC) required for a x% reduction;*** Calculate the % reduction using the following formula:

(POD6SPEC – Ref10 POD6SPEC) x potential maximum rate of reduction;**** Calculated using different parameterisation of flux model for Mediterranean and non- Mediterranean regions.

Table 3. Flux-based ozone critical levels for vegetation types for use in large scale modelling such as



https://www.sei-international.org/do3se

integrated assessment modelling (PODYIAM), as agreed at the 30th ICP Vegetation Task Force meeting.

Grassland area in grid cell (%)

POD1 grass(mmol m-2)* <5 5 - 15 15 - 20 20 - 25 25 - 30 >30

RISK 1 2 3 4 5 6

0.5 – 5 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

5 - 10 2 2 4 6 8 10 12

>10 3 3 6 9 12 15 18

Grasslands (EUNIS code E) and woodland fringes (EUNIS code E5) in Natura 2000 areas at risk from impacts of ozone were mapped by applying the developed risk matrix. Natura 2000 grassland areas at highest risk from ozone are spread across Central and Southern Europe, in those areas where grasslands are most abundant and where the phytotoxic ozone dose (POD1 grass) is medium to high. Areas at highest risk include some Natura2000 sites in southern England, parts of the Iberian Peninsula, the east coast of Spain, southern Italy and south-eastern Europe. Woodland fringes at medium-high risk are most abundant in parts of the Mediterranean and Estonia, with those in the Mediterranean area being at highest risk from ozone impacts (Figure 6). However, it should be noted that considerable uncertainty is associated with mapping habitats at risk in Southern Europe based on the ozone responsiveness of plant species and communities that primarily occur in the northern half of Europe. A case study for the impact of ozone on Mediterranean habitats was included in the brochure.

Figure 6. Risk of ozone impact in Natura 2000 areas on (left) grasslands (EUNIS class E), with areas at highest risk scattered across Central and Southern Europe, and on (right) woodland fringes (EUNIS class E5), and areas at highest risk primarily in parts of Southern Europe.

In 2016, the PCC contributed to the following scientific paper: ‘Current and future ozone risks to global terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem processes’ (Ecology & Evolution 6: 8785-8799). The paper provides an overview of how ozone pollution might affect biodiversity and identifies biomes exposed to high 12hr mean ozone concentrations in the current and future climate, applying the climate change scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5.

WP4: Implications of hemispheric transport of ozone and its precursors.


Objective 7: Review current state of knowledge of impacts of hemispheric and regional sources of ozone on European vegetation – fully met.

Objective 8: As an outreach activity for the ICP Vegetation, continue to expand network of contributors to other areas of the world where ozone pollution problems are rising – fully met.

Summary report on changing ozone profile (deliverable 20).

In 2015, the PCC produced a brochure on ‘Changing ozone profiles in Europe: implications for vegetation’ (Figure 7). Key messages are:

Few trends have been observed at ICP Vegetation monitoring sites between 1999 and 2010 regarding ozone concentrations and risk of ozone impacts on vegetation.

Time series much longer than 12 years are required to distinguish significant long-term trends from inter-annual variability in ozone concentrations due to climate variation.

Whereas peak concentrations of ozone have declined in some (but not all) parts of Europe, an increase in background concentrations has contributed to no change in median or average ozone concentrations across Europe.

Ozone pollution in Europe in the future is dependent on changes in both regional emissions and global transport of precursors.

Figure 7. Brochure on ‘Changing ozone profiles in Europe: implications for vegetation. http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk

Despite a more than 30% reduction in European emissions of ozone precursors during the last two decades, a decline in mean ozone concentrations is generally not seen at EMEP (European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme) ozone monitoring sites (Torseth et al., 2012. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 12: 5447–5481; Simpson et al., 2014. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 9-10: 9-19). Rural background data over 1990 – 2010 show a decrease in the highest concentrations and a corresponding increase in low concentrations in the UK, the Netherlands and some other countries, but no clear trends in, for example, Switzerland or Austria. Reduced precursor emissions might well be being masked by large inter-annual variations in ozone, caused by, for example weather or biomass burning events.

Analysis of the European data from ICP Vegetation biomonitoring sites with long time series between 1999 and 2010 showed that in recent years the proportion of hourly ozone concentration in the lowest and highest ozone categories has declined (P < 0.10), whereas the proportion in the category 20 - 39 ppb has increased (P < 0.001) and the proportion in the category 40 - 59 ppb has not changed (Table 6). These results confirm the general trend observed across Europe, i.e. background ozone concentrations are rising whereas peak concentrations are declining. No temporal trends were found for the 24 hr mean and daylight mean ozone concentrations

Table 6. Trends (1999 – 2010) in ozone concentrations at ICP Vegetation sites.

Ozone concentration

Europeantrend

Sites showing European trend

0-19 ppb Decline Tervuren (BE), Seibersdorf (AT)

20-39 ppb Increase Östad (SE), Ascot (GB), Tervuren (BE), Giessen (DE)

40-59 ppb None All, except increase in Seibersdorf (AT)

≥60 ppb Decline Ljubljana (SI)

Despite a European decline in ozone concentrations of more than 60 ppb, AOT40 did not show any trend, apart from a decline at one site in Slovenia (P = 0.06; Figure 8, Table 7), reflecting the trend observed for the daily maximum ozone concentration. Concentrations much lower than 40 ppb contribute to the accumulation of ozone flux. The ozone flux into leaves showed no trend between 1999 and 2010, indicating that the risk of ozone-induced effects on wheat has not changed with time. Considering the annual variation in ozone concentrations due to climate variation, longer time series are required to detect temporal trends in ozone concentrations and effects on vegetation across Europe.

Table 7. Trends (1999 – 2010) in ozone concentrations and leaf fluxes at sites* across Europe.



Country Site 24 hr mean

Daylightmean

Nightmean

Daily max

Daily min

AOT40a POD3IAMb

Belgium Tervuren None None Increase None Increase None None

Slovenia Ljubljana None None None Decline None Decline None

European mean None None Increase None Increase None None

* Data are shown for sites showing at least one significant trend (P < 0.10). No significant trends for any of the variables were observed for Östad (Sweden), Ascot (UK), Giessen (Germany), Seibersdorf (Austria) and Pisa (Italy).

Co-organise meeting in China on ‘Ozone and Plants’, 18 – 21 May 2014, Beijing (deliverable 21, including ODA)

Together with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organisations), the PCC organised the conference ‘Ozone and Plants, 18 – 21 May 2014, in Beijing. It was appropriate and timely to have the conference in China because large parts of China are suffering from serious surface ozone pollution in the summer. The conference was attended by more than 110 scientists from 17 countries to share the state of the art of ozone research and discuss scientific gaps in the understanding of the interaction between ozone and plants. Recent scientific knowledge was exchanged on ozone atmospheric chemistry and its exchanges with the biosphere; ozone monitoring, modelling and risk assessment; plant and ecosystem responses to ozone exposure. The conference discussed how to set up coordinated surface ozone monitoring programmes across the world to validate modelled surface ozone concentrations and fluxes. A strong focus of the conference was on the ozone effects on crop yield quality and quantity, effects of ozone on ecosystem services, provided by forests and grasslands, such as carbon sequestration, control of the water cycle, and biodiversity conservation in the current and expected future climate. It is also necessary to collate further field-based evidence for the impacts of ambient ozone on vegetation, especially in Asia and South America. An editorial paper outlining the aim and content of the workshop published in 2015 in a special issue of Environmental Pollution (volume 202, p. 215-216). The 2nd International Conference on Ozone and Plants is scheduled for May 2018 in Florence, Italy. In 2015, the Chair of the ICP Vegetation attended the first annual Asian Air Pollution Workshop, 31 October – 1 November, Tokyo, Japan and gave a keynote presentation on ‘Feeding an ozone polluted world – Implications of rising ozone pollution for sustainability of crops yield quantity and quality’. These outreach activities to Asia are important considering the fact that ozone pollution is a global problem, with background concentrations in Europe rising due to hemispheric transport partly from rising ozone concentrations in Asia. Hence, ozone abatement requires global action. The workshop highlighted the lack of an integrated framework for air pollution research and policy in Asia, such as the LRTAP Convention, where scientists and policy makers meet and discuss the application of the latest science in policy development.

Annual updates on collaboration with the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP; deliverables 20, 22, 23, including ODA).

At the ‘Ozone and Plants’ conference in Beijing (see above), the PCC organised a joint session with HTAP. Discussions were held on ongoing inter-model comparisons conducted within HTAP on hemispheric transport of air pollution and how this could lead to the provision of global stomatal ozone flux data and maps in the future. The PCC also contributed to a one-day event at the World Expo in Milan, Italy, 10th July 2015, organised by one of the co-chairs of HTAP at the Joint Research Centre of the European Union. The theme of the 2015 World Expo was ‘Feeding the plant. Energy for life’. The theme of the side event was ‘Sustainable food production and air pollution: reducing emissions generates many benefits’, where the Head of the PCC was an expert panel member.

The Head of the PCC also gave a presentation at the HTAP Workshop on ‘Assessing the impacts of future global air pollution scenarios’, 17 – 19 February, 2016 in Potsdam, Germany, which included the first global application of flux-based ozone risk assessment for wheat. The Head of the PPC has led a scientific paper on this topic in collaboration with the HTAP members, including one of its co-chairs; the paper was submitted in March 2017. Further discussions on collaboration with HTAP were held twice a year at meetings of the LRTAP Convention in Geneva.

In the final two years of the project, the Head of the PCC has contributed significantly to the first Global Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR), coordinated by the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Initiative. In addition to the report, TOAR aims to generate easily accessible, documented data on ozone exposure and dose metrics at hundreds of measurements sites around the world for use in climate change, human health and crop/ecosystem research. The Head of the PCC is lead author of a chapter on ozone metrics for vegetation which will include a spatial and temporal analysis of ozone metrics from different regions of the world. Members of HTAP also contribute to the report. Papers have


been prepared for a special issue of the online journal ‘Elementa’, with the database becoming available in the second half of 2017.

The PCC also attended an Expert Workshop on ‘Metrics for evaluationg and reporting on methane and black carbon interventions’, 16-17 March, 2017 in Ottawa, Canada’, organised by the Climate and Clear Air Coalition. The PCC gave a presentation on ‘How agriculture metrics are developed: Agricultural impacts relevant to estimating the impact of black carbon and methane interventions and the relevance for metric development’.

WP 5: Further development of nitrogen and heavy metals activities.

Objective 9: To co-organise a workshop to develop integrated risk assessments for the impacts of nitrogen and ozone pollution on vegetation in Europe – fully met.

Objective 10: To inform the LRTAP Convention on developments with the ongoing heavy metals and nitrogen content of mosses survey – fully met.

Co-organise workshop on nitrogen and ozone (deliverable 24).

The PCC co-organised and co-chaired a session at the 25th CCE (Coordination Centre for Effects) workshop/31st ICP Modelling and Mapping Task Force meeting, 21 April 2015 in Zagreb, Croatia on ‘Nitrogen impacts on plant species diversity, including interactions between ozone and nitrogen’. Presentations included progress made within the EU Framework Programme 7 project ECLAIRE, studying the integrated impacts of nitrogen and ozone on terrestrial ecosystems. The aim of ECLAIRE was to develop novel thresholds and methodologies to assess the risk of nitrogen and ozone impacts on vegetation in a changing climate. The workshop explored new methodologies for an integrated risk assessment of the impacts of both pollutants together. Integrated assessment methodologies for ozone and nitrogen in vegetation models also enable the prediction of ozone and nitrogen impacts on vegetation in a future climate. Biodiversity critical loads for nitrogen based on the habitat suitability index were successfully used for optimization of the GAINS model (Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies), used in integrated assessment modelling within the LRTAP Convention. Evidence was provided for separate effects of nitrogen and ozone on many ecosystem processes, including carbon allocation, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen use efficiency, and soil processes. The direction of interactive impacts depends on the process studied and the relative concentrations of both air pollutants. For example, at the highest ranges of nitrogen and ozone expected in Europe, ozone reduces the growth enhancing effect of high nitrogen (particularly in roots) and the relative effects of ozone are greater at higher than at lower nitrogen supply. Although nitrogen has stimulated carbon sequestration in forests in the past, saturation might have occurred in recent years, with forest growth becoming more limited by phosphorus availability, and climate change has been predicted to dominate impacts on carbon sequestration in forests in the future (see also WP 3, deliverable 14).

Annual update on heavy metals, N and POP concentrations and impacts (deliverables 24-26, including ODA).

Since 1990, heavy metal concentrations in mosses have been determined every five years to provide an indication of spatial patterns and temporal trends of deposition from the atmosphere to terrestrial ecosystems. Since 2005, nitrogen concentrations in mosses have also been determined and a pilot study on POPs was conducted in 2010. In 2014, coordination of the ‘European’ moss survey was handed over to a new Moss Survey Coordination Centre in the Russian Federation, with an advisory role for the PCC. Coordination was handed over to the Russian Federation in an attempt to enhance particition of countries in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) and other parts of Asia. The hand-over has been successful as participation of EECCA and other Asian countries in the 2015/16 moss survey has increased compared to earlier surveys (Table 8). In the last three years, the focus was on preparations for the 2015/16 moss survey and data processing and analysis of submitted data from 2017 onwards. Furthermore, preparations were started for the 2020 moss survey. In 2014, the moss monitoring manual was amended and available from the ICP Vegetation web site. For the first time, the manual was also translated into Russian.

At least 36 countries have confirmed that they will submit data on heavy metal concentrations in mosses to the Moss Survey Coordination Centre (Table 8); about 40% of the countries have already submitted the data that will be stored in a password controlled data management system at the Moss Survey Coordination Centre, with copies of the data also stored at the PCC to enable quality checks of the data. Thirteen countries have submitted or will submit data on nitrogen concentrations in mosses too and eight countries will report data for POPs. Eight EECCA countries and 2 – 4 other countries in Asia will submit


data on heavy metal concentrations in mosses. As shown in Table 8, at least 14 ODA recipients have confirmed that they will submit (or have already submitted) moss data.

Table 8. Countries participating in the moss survey 2015/16. All countries will submit data on heavy metals, some will also submit data on nitrogen (N) or persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Countries in blue are ODA recipients.

Rest of Europe (16) Rest Europe SEE Europe* (8) EECCA** (9) Others(3-5)

AustriaN,POPs Italy-BolzanoN Albania Armenia CanadaN,POPs

Czech Rep.N LatviaN,POPs Bulgaria Azerbaijan India (?)

Denmark-Faroer Isl. NorwayPOPs Greece Belarus MongoliaEstoniaN PolandN Macedonia Georgia South Korea (?)

FranceN Slovakia Romania Kazakhstan Vietnam

GermanyN,POPs Spain Serbia Moldova

IrelandN,POPs SwedenN,POPs SloveniaN Russian Fed.

Iceland SwitzerlandN,POPs Turkey Tajikistan

Ukraine-Crimea

* South-East Europe; ** Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.

Data from the 2010 and previous moss surveys were further analysed in collaboration with EMEP/MSC-East to compare spatial patterns and temporal trends of heavy metal concentrations in mosses with those of modelled atmospheric heavy metal deposition. These data were presented at the 29th Task Force meeting in the Russian Federation (see WP 1, deliverable 8). Data on measured concentrations of heavy metals in mosses provides important supplementary information for analysis of pollution levels and their trends in the EMEP region, especially in areas with scarce monitoring networks. Both modelled deposition and concentrations in mosses demonstrate similar relative reductions for period 1990 – 2010 for Europe and in most individual countries. For European countries for which both modelled deposition and concentrations in mosses data are available, the lead, cadmium and mercury pollution levels were reduced between 1990 and 2010 by 79, 56 and 14%, respectively for modelled deposition and by 82, 53 and 13%, respectively for concentrations in mosses (Figure 8). Results of the 2010/11 European moss survey were further disseminated in the papers summarised in section 9 of this report. A paper on nitrogen, published in 2014, showed that nitrogen concentrations in mosses start to saturate at atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates of between 15 and 20 kg N ha-1 y-1.

Pb

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

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Deosition

Conc. in mossesCd

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1995 2000 2005 2010

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Deposition

Conc. in mosses

Figure 8. Trends in cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) concentrations in mosses and modelled atmospheric deposition in European countries for which both data are available between 1990 (1995 for Hg) and 2010.

WP 6: Additional activities required by the LRTAP Convention and/or Defra.

Objective 11: To provide additional support and reporting to the LRTAP Convention, as required – fully met.

Additional CLRTAP activity (deliverables 27-29, including ODA)

In 2014 and 2015, the PCC provided text to and had editorial responsibilities for the WGE report on ‘Trends in ecosystems and health responses to long-range transported atmospheric pollutants’. The PCC provided text on trends in atmospheric ozone concentrations observed as selected ICP Vegetation biomonitoring sites and trends in associated risks for impacts on crop yield (see WP 4, deliverable 20). Also included were predicted future trends of ozone impacts on wheat yield and trends in heavy metal


concentrations in mosses (1990 – 2010; see WP 5, deliverables 24-26). No clear trends in risk of ozone impacts on vegetation (1999 – 2010) have been found. Pollutants such as ozone, mercury and selected POPs require collaboration at the Northern Hemispherical scale to achieve further reductions in Europe. Further systematic long-term monitoring or air pollution deposition and impacts on ecosystems is required to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of air pollution abatement policies in the future. Material from WGE trends report was also included in the LRTAP Convention report ‘Towards Cleaner Air. Scientific Assessment Report 2016’. The PCC contributed to a section on ‘Ozone trends and impacts on health and ecosystems’ and a section on ‘Air pollution at a wider scale’. The report was launched at a special event in Brussels on 31st May 2016 and a summary was presented at the 8th Environmental Ministerial Conference in Butami, Georgia, 8 – 10 June, 2016. Ministers endorsed the voluntary Batumi Action for Cleaner Air, an initiative supporting countries’ efforts in improving air quality and protecting public health and ecosystems.

Figure 9. WGE trends report (left) and Scientific Assessment Report 2016 of the LRTAP Convention (right).

Survey to assess usefulness of ICP Vegetation outputs (requested by Defra, including ODA)

At the request of Defra, the PCC conducted a short survey in November 2016 to assess the usefulness of outputs produced by the ICP Vegetation. Key messages from the survey were:

The majority of responses were received from academics/researchers (87%). Over 90% of respondents use ICP Vegetation outputs, with 96 – 100% of these finding the data,

maps, reports and manuals useful or very useful. For each of these outputs, around 75% of respondents found them to be very useful and 25% useful; 95% and 98% use the brochures and web site, respectively with a relatively even split between finding them useful or very useful.

Of the 52% using Chapter 3 of the Modelling and Mapping Manual (representing the community interested in ozone effects on vegetation), about two thirds were using each aspect of the chapter, applying the methodology mainly at the national or sub-national scale.

Respondents mainly keep in touch with our work via the ICP Vegetation web site, attending meetings or by email with the coordination team. When asked about alternative forms of communication, many would not find twitter (73% or respondents), LinkedIn (58%), Facebook (43%) or a blog (32%) useful. Of the suggestions made, keeping in touch via a blog about new developments was regarded as the most useful additional form of communication.

A detailed report on the outcome of the survey was sent to Defra in December 2016.

WP 7: Additional work for 2016/17.

Objective A: To develop and apply a strategy for quantifying the risk of ozone impacts on biodiversity on a global scale, based on ozone concentration and stomatal flux metrics for 2010-12 – fully met

Objective B: Using 2015 as a test year, develop and apply methodology for potential use in reporting to the (amended) European Union’s National Emissions Ceiling Directive, the UK spatial data on indicators for ozone effects on terrestrial ecosystems – fully met.

WP 7.1: Global impacts of ozone on biodiversity.

Global stomatal ozone flux data provided by EMEP for the main half year growing season of vegetation, were averaged over 2010-2012 for 12 global climate zones. The flux data are based on a vegetation height of 1 m as derived for crops (global flux data for trees or (semi-)natural vegetation are not available yet, but can be developed in the future). In addition, data on the accumulated ozone daytime ozone concentration above a threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40) are available. Maps of the global distribution of the stomatal ozone flux (POD3IAM) were compared with those of plant species richness to identify areas where plant diversity might be most at risk from adverse impacts of ozone (Figure 10). A matrix was developed whereby the ozone fluxes and plant diversity were divided into six classes each (according to


the legend of the maps in Figure 10) and they were multiplied with each other to quantify areas at highest risk. Areas with the highest ozone flux and highest species richness are found in parts of Brazil, Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo) South-East Asia (South-East China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Indonesia) and to a slightly lower extend in Central America (Mexico) and the Mediterranean. The biome most at risk of adverse impacts of ozone pollution is tropical moist broadleaf forests, followed by temperate broadleaf forests. However, it should be noted that there is hardly any field-based evidence for the ozone-sensitivity of tropical moist broadleaf forest species. More is known about the ozone-sensitivity of temperate broadleaf forest species, where for example beech, birch and poplar have been identified as sensitive species, with beech being identified as the most sensitive tree species regarding ozone induced leaf damage (Chapter 5, 2016 Technical report of the ICP Forests, ISBN 978-3-902762-65-8, ISNN 1811-3044).

Figure 10. Global ozone stomatal flux for crops (POD3IAM) during the main growing season of six months (three months in the Arctic; top), plant species richness (middle; Kier et al., 2005. Journal of Biogeography 32: 1107-1116) and distribution of biomes (bottom; WWF).

WP 7.2: Scoping study for effects of ozone on vegetation in the UK.

The Revised National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NECD) of the EU is aligning emission reduction commitments with those for the LRTAP Convention, with the long-term objective to reduce air pollution to at or below the Convention’s critical levels and loads (Amendment of Directive 2003/35/EC). Annex V of the revised Directive describes optional indicators for Member States to use to monitor the adverse effects of air pollution on ecosystems. This study developed and applied a methodology for UK reporting for ozone damage to biodiversity and vegetation growth, including exceedance of flux-based critical levels (see Table 2). A more detailed report has been submitted separately to Defra. Our analysis considered the following requirements of Annex V: “For terrestrial ecosystems: assessing ozone damage to vegetation growth and biodiversity.

(i) The key indicator vegetation growth and foliar damage and the supporting indicator carbon Flux (C flux), frequency of sampling: every year


Total area (ha) (with O3 flux)

Total area (ha) exceeding CL

Exceeded area (%)



Exceeded area (%)



Exceeded area (%)

England 556341 556341 100 603753 273026 45.2 1664153 1147441 69Wales 80574 80574 100 334050 7781 2.3 21398 3550 16.6Scotland 108683 108683 100 830343 0 0 102734 0 0NI 0 0 0 126057 0 0 6733 0 0UK 745598 745598 100 1894203 280807 14.8 1795018 1150991 64.1

Managed broadleaf woodland Grassland flower number Wheat (POD6SPEC)

(ii) The key indicator exceedance of flux-based critical levels, frequency of sampling: every year during the growing season”

Our method first involved mapping the distribution of crop area and production for wheat, potato and oilseed rape and habitat distribution for managed broad-leaves woodlands, unmanaged beech woodlands, managed coniferous woodland and perennial grassland represented by acid, calcareous and dune grassland at 5 x 5km resolution for the UK. Next, ozone flux as POD1SPEC, POD6SPEC and POD3IAM were modelled for the UK in 2015 using the EMEP4UK atmospheric chemistry transport model. Effects of ozone on crop production in tonnes per grid square and economic valuation using mean monthly ex-farm prices over the period 2014-2016 were mapped at 5 x 5km resolution by applying flux-based response functions to gridded flux data. For all crops and habitats where suitable critical levels exist, we also mapped the areas where exceedance occurred and summed the areas of exceedance for the four countries of the UK.

(i) The key indicator vegetation growth and foliar damage and the supporting indicator carbon Flux (C flux), frequency of sampling: every year Here, we quantified effects on growth by mapping effects on crop yield (quantity, economic value), tree and grassland biomass. Impacts on carbon flux can be inferred from effects on growth but several more stages are needed before this can be calculated such as conversion of response functions for effects on young trees under 10 years old to effects on mature trees. As such, the percentage biomass loss maps produced should be considered to be indicative of the risk of effects on carbon flux, rather than actual values for effects. We are not currently able to model incidences of visible injury – sufficient data is held within the ICP Vegetation PCC to develop a critical level for visible injury but such analysis was beyond the scope of this WP. In summary, this study indicated that ozone pollution in 2015:

Reduced wheat production by 4.8% amounting to 0.92 million tonnes, worth £130 million at average farm gate prices (2014 – 2016), with the highest production losses were indicated for eastern counties, particularly Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire (Figure 11.a).

Reduced the UK potato yield by 5.4%, resulting in 302,000 lost tonnes of potato tubers worth £49.5 million, with the highest production losses in rural areas of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and parts of East Anglia.

Reduced the UK oilseed rape yield by 5.5%, amounting to 137,000 tonnes of lost production, worth £38.8 million, with the highest production losses predicted for central England and parts of the Yorkshire counties.

Had the largest potential impact on managed and unmanaged broad-leaved woodland in the SW of England, with greatest effects in the southern half of England and Wales (Figure 11c)

Reduced the living biomass of coniferous trees less than broad-leaved trees, but with similar areas having the highest risk of potential effects.

Had the potential to reduce flowering in wild plants in the southern half of England and parts of south Wales, with the areas at highest risk being in southern and eastern counties, including Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex and parts of East Anglia (Figure 11 d).

(ii) The key indicator exceedance of flux-based critical levels, frequency of sampling: every year during the growing season. Here, we provided maps and tables showing the exceedance of the critical levels relevant for UK vegetation. Examples of exceedance tables can be found in Table 9. Critical level exceedance was greatest for woodland habitats (100% exceeded for the UK for the three habitats), intermediate for crops (64.1 and 60.1 % exceedance for wheat and potato), and modest for grassland flower number (14%). However, these UK average values are not providing the full picture, for example, 45.2% of the grassland areas of England fall in areas where the CL is exceeded (Figure 11. d), with the highest CL exceedance in areas such as Dorset and Hampshire where many Natura 2000 protected sites are located. Similarly, for wheat 69% of the area where the crop is grown in England has CL exceedance, with 16.6% of the area exceeded in Wales and no exceedance in Scotland or Northern Ireland (Figure 11. b). For all vegetation types included in this analysis, the main areas at risk from CL exceedance are those

described for (i) as having the highest effects on yield and biomass.

Table 9: Examples of the exceedance of the critical levels of ozone in the UK in 2015


The results of this study will be presented at the NECD Directive meeting, 3-4 April, Brussels.

Figure 11: Maps showing the effects of ozone in 2015 on (a) wheat production and as critical level exceedance for (b) wheat, (c) managed broad-leaved woodlands and (d) flowering in grasslands (acid, calcareous and dune). All assessments are based on stomatal flux of ozone using species-or species- group specific parameterisations for PODySPEC.


(d) CL exceedance for flowering in grasslands

(a) Production loss in wheat(b) CL exceedance for wheat

(c) CL exceedance for managed broad-leaf woodland

Future work for the ICP Vegetation

A programme of work has been agreed with the LRTAP Convention and Defra for 2017 – 2020, to include: Coordination of the ICP Vegetation activities, including the annual Task Force meeting, and

reporting the latest scientific knowledge to the LRTAP Convention and Defra. Further development and application of risk assessment methodologies for ozone, including

knowledge transfer to low and middle-income countries. Collate evidence of the negative effects of ozone pollution on vegetation in low and middle-income

countries, knowledge transfer and producing a policy document. Modelling the global impacts of ozone on food security for a range of air pollution and crop

management scenarios, including the risk of impact in low and middle-income countries. Quantifying deposition of air pollutants (heavy metals, nitrogen, persistent organic pollutants) to

vegetation using naturally growing mosses, including in low and middle-income countries.


References to published material9. This section should be used to record links (hypertext links where possible) or references to other

published material generated by, or relating to this project.

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

Büker, P., Feng, Z., Uddling, J., Briolat, A., Alonso, R., Braun, S., Elvira, S., Gerosa, G., Karlsson, P.E., Le Thiec, D., Marzuoli, R., Mills, G., Oksanen, E., Wieser, G., Wilkinson, M., Emberson, L. D. 2015. New flux based dose-response relationships for ozone for European forest tree species. Environmental Pollution, 206, 163 - 174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.06.033

Feng, Z., Paoletti, E., Bynerowicz, A., Harmens, H. (2015). Ozone and plants. Environmental Pollution 202: 215-216 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.02.004

Fuhrer J., Val Martin, M., Mills, G., Heald, C.L., Harmens, H., Hayes, F., Sharps, K.R., Bender, J., Ashmore, M. 2016. Current and future ozone risks to global terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Ecology and Evolution. 6(24), 8785 – 8799. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2568

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Norris, D.A., Sharps, K. (2015). Twenty eight years of ICP Vegetation: an overview of its activities. Annali di Botanica 5: 47 – 59 http://dx.doi.org/10.4462/annbotrm-13064

Harmens, H., Norris, D.A., Sharps, K., Mills, G. et al. (2015). Heavy metal and nitrogen concentrations in mosses are declining across Europe whilst some “hotspots” remain in 2010. Environmental Pollution 200: 93-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.01.036

Harmens, H., Schnyder, E., Thöni, L., Cooper, D.M., Mills, G. et al. (2014). Relationship between site-specific nitrogen concentrations in mosses and measured wet bulk atmospheric nitrogen deposition across Europe. Environmental Pollution 194: 50 - 59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.07.016

Harmens, H., Schröder, W., Zechmeister, H.G., Steinnes, E., Frontasyeva, M. (2015). Comments on J.A. Fernandez, M.T. Boquete, A.Carballeira, J.R. Aboal. A critical review of the protocols for moss biomonitoring of atmospheric deposition: Sampling and sample preparation. Science of the Total Environment 517: 132-150. Science of the Total Environment 538: 1024-1026. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.070.

Mills, G., Harmens, H., Wagg, S., Sharps, K., Fowler, D., Sutton M., Davies, W. 2016. Ozone impacts on vegetation in a nitrogen enriched and changing climate. Environmental Pollution 208, 898 – 908. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.09.038Nickel., S., Schröder, W, Wosniok, W., Harmens, H., et al., (2017). Modelling and mapping heavy metal and nitrogen concentrations in moss in 2010 throughout Europe by applying Random Forests models. Atmospheric Environment,156, 146-159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.02.032

Pleijel, H., Danielsson, H., Simpson, D., Mills, G. (2014). Have ozone effects on carbon sequestration been over-estimated? A new biomass response function for wheat. Biogeoscience 11: 4521-4528. http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/4521/2014/

Simpson, D., Arneth, A., Mills, G., Solberg, S., Uddling, J. (2014). Ozone - the persistent menace; interactions with the N cycle and climate change. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 9-10: 9-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2014.07.008

Schröder W, Nickel S, Schönrock S, Meyer M, Wosniok W, Harmens H, et al. (in press). Spatially valid data of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen derived by moss surveys for pollution risk assessments of ecosystems. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-6577-5ANNUAL REPORTS

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K., Frontasyeva, M., and the participants of the ICP Vegetation. (2014). Air pollution and vegetation. ICP Vegetation annual report 2013/2014. ICP Vegetation Programme


http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2014.07.008

http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/4521/2014/

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.02.032

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.09.038



http://dx.doi.org/10.4462/annbotrm-13064



Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. ISBN: 978-1-906698-53-9.http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/ICPVegetationannualreport2013-14_000.pdf

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K., Frontasyeva, M., and the participants of the ICP Vegetation. (2015). Air pollution and vegetation. ICP Vegetation annual report 2014/2015. ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. ISBN: 978-1-906698-55-3.http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/FinalICPVegetationannualreport2014-15.pdf

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K., Frontasyeva, M., and the participants of the ICP Vegetation. (2016). Air pollution and vegetation. ICP Vegetation annual report 2015/2016. ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. ISBN: 978-1-906698-58-4http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/ICPVegetationannualreport2015-16.pdf

Please note: For the following publications, the formatting settings of the Evid4 form did not allow long links to reports and thus in several cases, the website where several reports including that listed can be found is given rather than the link to the individual report.

STATE OF KNOWLEDGE REPORTS TO LRTAP CONVENTION

De Wit, H.A., Hetteling, J.-P., Harmens, H. (2015). Trends in ecosystem and health responses to long-range transported atmospheric pollutants. Report no. 6946-2015, ICP Waters report 125/2015. Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo, Norway. ISBN 978-82-577-6681-8. http://www.unece.org/environmental-policy/conventions/envlrtapwelcome/publications.html

Harmens, H.,Mills, G. (2016). Contributions to: Towards Cleaner Air. Scientific Assessment Report 2016. Maas, R., P. Grennfelt (eds). EMEP Steering Body and Working Group on Effects of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Oslo. xx+50pphttp://www.unece.org/environmental-policy/conventions/envlrtapwelcome/publications.html

Harmens, H., Mills, G. (2014). Contributions of ICP Vegetation to ‘2014 joint progress report on the activities of the International Coordinated Programmes and the Joint Task Force on the Health Aspects of Air Pollution’. Technical report prepared for the 33nd Session of the Working Group on Effects, September 2014. ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2014/3. http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=35258#/

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K. (2014). Effects of air pollution on natural vegetation and crops. ICP Vegetation technical report prepared for the 33nd Session of the Working Group on Effects, September 2014. ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2014/8. http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=35258#/

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Sharps, K. (2014). Deposition of air pollutants to vegetation in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central and South-East Asia and their impacts. Technical report prepared for the 33nd Session of the Working Group on Effects, September 2014. ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2014/13. http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=35258#/

Harmens, H., Mills, G. (2015). Contributions of ICP Vegetation to ‘2015 joint progress report on policy relevant scientific findings’. Technical report prepared for the first Joint Session of the Steering Body of EMEP and the Working Group on Effects, September 2015. ECE/EB.AIR/GE.1/2015/3-ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2015/3. http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=39872#/

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K. (2015). Effects of air pollution on natural vegetation and crops. ICP Vegetation technical report prepared for the first Joint Session of the Steering Body of EMEP and the Working Group on Effects, September 2015. ECE/EB.AIR/GE.1/2015/15-ECE/EB.AIR/WG.1/2015/8.http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=39872#/

Contributions of ICP Vegetation to ‘2016 joint progress report on policy relevant scientific findings’. Technical report prepared for the first Joint Session of the Steering Body of EMEP and the Working Group on Effects, September 2016 http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=40002#/


http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=40002#/






http://www.unece.org/environmental-policy/conventions/envlrtapwelcome/publications.html

http://www.unece.org/environmental-policy/conventions/envlrtapwelcome/publications.html

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/ICPVegetationannualreport2015-16.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/FinalICPVegetationannualreport2014-15.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/ICPVegetationannualreport2013-14_000.pdf

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K. (2016). Effects of air pollution on natural vegetation and crops. ICP Vegetation technical report prepared for the first Joint Session of the Steering Body of EMEP and the Working Group on Effects, September 2016. http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=40002#/

LRTAP CONVENTION MODELLING AND MAPPING MANUAL

Mills, G., Harmens, H. et al. Chapter 3, Mapping critical levels for vegetation. In: LRTAP Convention Manual on Methodologies and Criteria for Modelling and Mapping Critical Loads and Levels. Updates prepared in 2015, 2016 and 2017. http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Ch3-MapMan-2016-05-03_vf.pdf

KNOWLEDGE SUMMARY BROCHURES

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Sharps, K. (2015). Climate change and reactive nitrogen as modifiers of vegetation responses to ozone pollution. Brochure, ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. 8 pages http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Brochureozonenitrogenandclimatechange.pdf

Harmens, H., Sharps, K., Hayes, F., Mills, G. (2015). Changing ozone profiles in Europe: implications for vegetation. Brochure ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. 8 pageshttp://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Brochureozonetrends.pdf

Harmens, H., Sharps, K., Hayes, F., Mills, G. (2016). Impacts of ozone pollution on biodiversity. Brochure, ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. 8 pageshttp://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/CEH_BIODIVERSITY_SINGLES_HIGH.pdf

Hayes, F., Sharps, K., Harmens, H., Mills, G. (2016). Field evidence of ozone impacts on vegetation in ambient air (2007-2015). Brochure ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. 8 pages. http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/CEH_EVIDENCE_SINGLES_HIGH.pdf

Mills, G., Harmens, H., Reis, S. (2016). Agricultural and crop-effects of ozone. Factsheet 4 - Global Challenge Network on Tropospheric Ozone. CEH, 2 pages. http://www.ozone-net.org.uk/factsheets

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Reis, S. (2016). Ecosystem effects of ozone. Factsheet 5 - Global Challenge Network on Tropospheric Ozone. CEH, 2 pages. http://www.ozone-net.org.uk/factsheets

Harmens, H., Mills, G. (2017). Flux-based critical levels of ozone pollution for vegetation: Overview of new developments, 2017. Brochure ICP Vegetation Programme Coordination Centre, CEH Bangor, UK. 8 pages. To be available shortly at http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/thematic.html

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Hayes, F., Manes, F., Salvatori, E., Fusaro, L. (2015). Programme and abstracts of the 28th Task Force Meeting of the ICP Vegetation, 3 – 5 February 2015, Rome, Italy.http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/events/tf_meetings.html

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Frontasyeva, M., Zinicovscaia, I., Culicov, O., Donskova, T., Vergel, K., Kravtsova, A., Nekhoroshkov, P., Lashkova, O., Yushin, N. (2016). Programme and abstracts of the 29th Task Force Meeting of the ICP Vegetation, 29th February – 3rd March 2016, Dubna, Russian Federation. ISBN 978-5-9530-0433-6.http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/events/tf_meetings.html

Harmens, H., Mills, G., Borowiak, K (2017). Programme and abstracts of the 30th Task Force Meeting of the ICP Vegetation, 14th February – 17th February 2017, Poznan, Poland. http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/events/tf_meetings.html


http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/events/tf_meetings.html



http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/thematic.html

http://www.ozone-net.org.uk/factsheets

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/CEH_EVIDENCE_SINGLES_HIGH.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/CEH_BIODIVERSITY_SINGLES_HIGH.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Brochureozonetrends.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Brochureozonenitrogenandclimatechange.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Ch3-MapMan-2016-05-03_vf.pdf

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/publications/documents/Ch3-MapMan-2016-05-03_vf.pdf


Several abstracts were submitted to and published in book of abstracts of various (inter)national workshops and conferences (e.g. CAPER, TOAR).

WEB-PAGE

The ICP Vegetation web-page has been updated regularly throughout the year:

http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk
