Effects of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide on the control of water loss by birch (Betula spp.)

SUMMARY The effects of SO2 and NO2 on the control of water loss by birch trees were investigated using clonal populations of both Betula pendula Roth, (silver birch) and Betula pubescens Khr. (downy birch). Plants were grown in controlled environments and were fumigated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment with 65 nl l-1 SO2 and/or NO2, or with equal concentrations of both SO2 and NO2 in four treatments, namely zero, 20, 40 and 60 nl l-1. Excised leaves showed in increased rate of water loss approximately corresponding to the concentration of pollutant to which they had been previously exposed. When petroleum jelly was applied to the abaxial epidermal surface of polluted leaves the increased rate of water loss was not found, strongly implying that the damage had occurred only at this site, and not on the adaxial epidermis, which is virtually devoid of stomata. Measurements of gas exchange were made on B. pubescens exposed to the four doses of the mixture of the two gases. The rate of transpiration was approximately doubled as a result of the two higher pollution treatments, judging from measurements made later in clean air. When transpiration was measured in high and low CO2 concentrations, polluted plants had a slightly reduced and more variable response to the change in CO2 concentration. Both clones were also exposed first to the four doses of the gas mixture, and then to drought. There was a more rapid onset of water stress, accompanied by an earlier decrease in effective leaf area in the polluted plants, when compared with the unpolluted plants. The abaxial surface of frozen hydrated leaves of the Betula pubescens clone were examined at low temperature with a scanning electron microscope. Damaged epidermal cells were clearly visible on the polluted leaves and thought to be responsible for areas of wide open stomata. It is concluded that leaves of these species are less efficient in the utilization of water after a period of exposure to pollution and are less able to restrict water loss in a time of shortage.