Modeling ozone uptake by urban and peri-urban forest: a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 25; no. 9; pp. 8190 - 8205
• Main Authors: Fusaro, Lina, Mereu, Simone, Salvatori, Elisabetta, Agliari, Elena, Fares, Silvano, Manes, Fausto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; Air Pollution - analysis; Air quality; Aquatic Pollution; Atmosphere - chemistry; Atmospheric models; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biodegradation, Environmental; Canopies; Cities; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecosystem; Ecosystem services; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental conditions; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Fluxes; Forest management; Forests; Gas exchange; Irrigation; Metropolitan areas; Ozone; Ozone - chemistry; Ozone and plant life: the Italian state-of-the-art; Phytoremediation; Pollutant removal; Pollutants; Precipitation; Seasonal variations; Seasons; Spectral analysis; Stomata; Transpiration; Urban areas; Urban forests; Vapor pressure; Waste Water Technology; Water availability; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Cities; Ozone fluxes; Air quality; Ecosystem services; Urban forest; Mediterranean region; GOTILWA+
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-0474-4
• ISSN: 0944-1344

Urban and peri-urban forests are green infrastructures (GI) that play a substantial role in delivering ecosystem services such as the amelioration of air quality by the removal of air pollutants, among which is ozone (O 3 ), which is the most harmful pollutant in Mediterranean metropolitan areas. Models may provide a reliable estimate of gas exchanges between vegetation and atmosphere and are thus a powerful tool to quantify and compare O 3 removal in different contexts. The present study modeled the O 3 stomatal uptake at canopy level of an urban and a peri-urban forest in the Metropolitan City of Rome in two different years. Results show different rates of O 3 fluxes between the two forests, due to different exposure to the pollutant, management practice effects on forest structure and functionality, and environmental conditions, namely, different stressors affecting the gas exchange rates of the two GIs. The periodic components of the time series calculated by means of the spectral analysis show that seasonal variation of modeled canopy transpiration is driven by precipitation in peri-urban forests, whereas in the urban forest seasonal variations are driven by vapor pressure deficit of ambient air. Moreover, in the urban forest high water availability during summer months, owing to irrigation practice, leads to an increase in O 3 uptake, thus suggesting that irrigation may enhance air phytoremediation in urban areas.