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- The mission of the USDA-ARS Air Quality-Plant Growth and Development Research
Unit at Raleigh, NC is to assess the effects of the changing atmospheric
environment on crop production and plant health and to develop techniques for
mitigating the problems. The current objectives are to determine the effects of
two atmospheric gases involved in global climate change [e.g., carbon dioxide
and tropospheric ozone] on crop systems. The effects of these gases will be
studied individually, in combination, and in interaction with other factors
associated with changes in global climate. Research is conducted under field,
greenhouse, phytotron, and laboratory conditions.
Current research includes:
-determination of interactions of ozone and elevated carbon dioxide on plant
physiology, growth, and yield ,
-examination of ozone and carbon dioxide effects on plant-pathogen/pest
associations and rhizosphere ecology,
-determining mechanisms of action of air pollutants and establishing
physiological and biochemical mechanisms of resistance,
-development of ozone-resistant plant cultivars, and
-application of environmental, physiological, and growth data in crop growth
simulation models for evaluation of air quality impacts on crop production.
Website: "http://www.aqpgdr.saa.ars.usda.gov/"
[Summary provided by the USDA.]
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