Sagehen Creek Field Station

16 Jun, 07 AM - 17 Jun, 07 AM

In this project we will be investigating the effect of ozone pollution levels on plant-plant signalling in sagebrush. We will mark pairs of sagebrush plants at three sites (sagehen creek, main highway and Reno). We will then select half of the pairs at each site (15) and clip the branches of one plant in each of those pairs. After approximately 1 week, five plants for each treatment at each site will be tested for the volatile compounds that they emit upon damage. This is a test for defensive priming in the plants, whereby plants previously exposed to damaged plants have modified and readied their defences. The technique used will be dynamic headspace collection, with samples collected onto Tenax TA adsorbent. At various intervals, the ozone concentration at the research sites will be monitored. One device that will be used for this is a handheld ozone analyser, model Aeroqual Series 500, which will allow basic measurements of ozone pollution to be made. Further, more accurate measurements will be made in collaboration with colleagues from UC Berkeley. The plan is to make basic pollution measurements at regular intervals throughout the first two days and follow that up with more detailed measurements through the following week. The plan for the first visit is to label pairs of plants with tape, damage the plants as defined above, and take preliminary ozone readings.

Visit #28941 @Sagehen Creek Field Station

Approved

Under Project # 25472 | Research

The effects of air pollution on plant-plant communication in sagebrush

research_scientist - University of Eastern Finland

Reservation Members(s)

James Blande Jun 16 - 17, 2012 (2 days)
James Blande Jun 16 - 17, 2012 (2 days)

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