AIR RESOURCE PROGRAM, ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, MAINE (12/97)

Submitted by: Bob Breen, Acadia National Park, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609

INTRODUCTION

Acadia National Park is the only National Park in the northeastern United States. With more than 40,000 acres it is one of the largest publicly owned and protected natural areas in the region. Northern coniferous and temperate deciduous forest meet and overlap at Acadia, resulting in a rich and diverse flora of approximately 1200 species, and more than 330 bird and 50 mammal species. Acadia NP has more 52 miles of spectacular rocky shoreline with steep cliffs, sand and boulder beaches, and tidal pools containing abundant marine life.

Located along the mid-coast of Maine, the park is downwind from large urban and industrial areas in states to the south and west, and as a result of long-range transport periodically experiences high concentrations of air pollutants. The National Park Service has established a comprehensive air resources management program at Acadia NP, a Class I area under the Clean Air Act, to better assess air pollution impacts and protect air quality related resources. The air resources management program at Acadia NP began in the early 1980's and includes monitoring, research, and regulatory interaction with state and federal agencies. The core program includes long-term monitoring for ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOC=s), fine particulates, visibility, mercury deposition and acid precipitation. In addition, there is an ongoing effort to determine the biological effects of selected air pollutants on park resources. Specific research studies include: effects of ozone on native vegetation (1989-1997), pathological assessment of needle blight on eastern white pine (1993-1997), lichens and air quality (1986), water resource baseline data and analysis of acid deposition impacts (1985, >87, >94), acid fog impacts to red spruce (1986-89), and mercury contamination in freshwater aquatic habitats (1995-1997). The air resource program at Acadia NP is a collaborative effort involving the National Park Service=s Air Resources Division and Northeast Regional Office, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and park natural resource staff.

BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS RESEARCH

Effects of ozone on native vegetation - studies to determine the relative sensitivity of a variety of plants native to Acadia National Park to varying levels of ozone. From 1990-93 open-top fumigation chambers were used to provide controlled exposure to ozone at 4 treatment levels: Charcoal filtered air (ozone reduced to approximately 50% ambient concentration), non-filtered (ambient) air, non-filtered air with ozone added to create an ozone concentration approximately 50% greater than ambient air, and non-filtered plus 2 times ambient (3 times ambient in 1993). A fifth treatment level consisted of plants growing outside of the chambers (in ambient air) to provide information on possible chamber effects. Plant response was assessed by evaluating levels of visible foliar injury and rates of photosynthesis.

Results of fumigation exposures with ozone

• Species injured at ambient concentrations:

Broad-leaf aster (Aster macrophyllus)

Black cherry (Prunus serotina)

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Jack pine (Pinus banksiana)

White ash (Fraxinus americana)

Spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)

• Species injured at concentrations 50% greater than ambient:

Gray birch (Betula populifolia)

Small sundrops (Oenothera perennis)

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)

• Species not injured at any of the experimental concentrations of ozone:

White pine (Pinus strobus)

Pitch pine (Pinus rigida)

Red spruce (Picea rubens)

Northern white cedar (Thuya occidentalis)

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)

Canada blue-joint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis)

Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum)

Staghorn sumac (Rhus Typhina)

Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)

Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)

Field surveys for ozone injury - random and non-random populations of sensitive species (determined by fumigation exposures) growing naturally in the park were surveyed in August (1992-97) to determine the existence and extent of ozone injury. The surveys focused primarily on broad-leaf aster and spreading dogbane, but also looked at white ash, black cherry, and small sundrops. Each year 1200-2500 plants were examined. No symptoms of visible injury were found during 1992-94. In 1995 and >96 visible injury was observed on less than 10 percent of dogbane and aster plants examined. This low incidence of injury is consistent with low ozone levels recorded in the park during these years.

Ozone growth impacts - although there were no visible injury symptoms to white pine that could be attributed to ozone in the fumigation exposures, a companion study did find a significant correlation between radial (tree-ring) growth and ozone. This study assessed tree-ring width, climatological variables (precipation and temperature) and ozone levels for a ten year period and found radial growth inversely related to ozone level in seven out of eight white pine stands.

White pine needle blight pathology - Field and experimental chamber studies on eastern white pine have found that foliar symptoms formerly attributed to ozone have been associated with several insects and diseases. Inoculation and fumigation studies are currently underway to investigate the relative roles of one fungus and ozone on producing foliar necrosis.

Evaluate Mercury Contamination in Aquatic Environments - this ongoing study is evaluating mercury concentrations in fish from lakes in Acadia NP and Cape Cod National Seashore, along with broader ecosystem implications. In some warm water species (bass, perch, pickerel) from selected lakes sampled, mercury concentrations were above US EPA human health standard of 1 part per million. Concentrations in cold water species (trout, salmon) in lakes sampled were generally within acceptable limits except for those at highest risk e.g. nursing mothers, children. Additional research is investigating atmospheric deposition of mercury in sediment cores, and mercury concentrations in other fauna including loons, mergansers, tree swallows, and turtles.

Other studies have investigated acid deposition and ozone impacts to red spruce, ozone impacts to aspen, an assessment of long-term atmospheric pollution, and an air related characterization of the lichen flora of the park.

AIR MONITORING

Air Monitoring Program objectives are to: 1) establish a baseline for selected pollutants, 2) judge attainment of state and federal standards, 3) assess trends, 4) support biological effects research and atmospheric modeling, and 5) support policy development. Specific parameters include:

Atmospheric Deposition

* National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) 1980 - present

Measures the concentration and deposition of precipitation. Analytes include hydrogen ion (acidity), sulfate, nitrate, ammonia, chloride and base cations. Weekly monitoring using Aerochem-Metrics precipitation collector.

* Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) 1995 - present (Co-funded w/MDEP)

Sub-network of the NADP.

Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring (primary operation, MDEP)

* Ozone, continuous monitoring, 1982 - present

* NOx, continuous monitoring, 1991, 1993, 1995 - present

* SO_2, continuous monitoring, 1988-1990,

* VOC, event and continuous, 1991, 1993, 1995 - present

* Mercury Vapor, (Environment Canada study) continuous monitoring, 1996 - 1997

Meteorlogical Monitoring

* Wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dew point (primary operation MDEP)

Continuous monitoring, 1993 - present

* Precipitation, temperature (daily), 1926 - present

Visibility Monitoring - 1980 to present. The primary objectives of visibility monitoring are to:

1) establish baseline data and track trends of fine particulate concentrations, 2)determine the relationship between visibility impairment and various atmospheric particulate constituents, 3)determine sources of particles producing visibility impairment, and 4)determine the sensitivity of various sites to varying concentrations of particles. There are 3 major components to the visibility monitoring program:

• Fine particulate monitoring as part of the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) program (1987-present). Sample particulates in the 0-2.5 (fine), and 0-10 (PM10) micron size ranges, are analyzed for mass, elemental analysis (H, Na-Pb), nitrate, sulfate, organic and elemental carbon.

• Optical monitoring using teleradiometer (1980-86), transmissometer (1987-94), integrating nephelometer (1994-present) to measure light extinction and calculate standard visual range.

• Scene monitoring utilizing 35mm camera photography to qualitatively characterize visibility (1980-1995). Click here for example Acadia visibility photos.

DISPro Program - a new USEPA/NPS cooperative program for long-term research and monitoring of environmental stressors and response, using 14 US National parks (including Acadia NP) as index sites to determine ecosystem status. In addition to current monitoring, will include UV-B monitoring and atmospheric dry deposition (winter 1998) and additional bio-effects research.

 MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Since 1980, The National Park Service Air Resources Division, with input from park staff, has formally reviewed 8-10 Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit applications having the potential to adversly affect Acadia National Park. Other recent regulatory actions include: comments regarding a proposed NOx exemption for northern Maine (1994, >96); comments on the redesignation of Hancock and adjacent counties to attainment for ozone under the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (1996); and comments on Maine DEP Title V Regulations for operating permit program (1995). The current Govenor and the Maine DEP have taken agressive action to target and seek reduction of air pollution from out-of-state emission sources, filed CAA section 126 petition to USEPA (1997).

PARTNERSHIPS

The National Park Service has a formal Cooperative Agreement with Maine DEP for operation of gaseous pollutant monitoring at Acadia National Park. Maine DEP has primary responsibility for operation of two monitoring sites at McFarland Hill and Cadillac Mountain (a Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Site).

National Park Service staff from Acadia, Northeast Regional Office, and the Air Resources Division participate in the Northeast Regional Air Quality Committee, a group of federal, state, and Canadian provincial and park air resource managers, with concerns about air quality in protected areas (including US Class I areas and Canadian National Parks) in the Atlantic provinces and the Northeastern United States. A formal Memorandum of Understanding is being developed for NERAQC member agencies.

The Atlantic Region Oxidents Working Group is an informal group of air managers and scientists from Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States who meet periodically to share monitoring and research information on air and atmospheric issues. Acadia staff have participated in AROWG meetings.

For more information contact:

Bob Breen, Acadia National Park, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609

(207) 288-5463, email bob_breen@nps.gov

Selected Bibliography

(note: the following references are a selected subset of a larger annotated bibliography of air quality related research that has been conducted at Acadia National Park.)

Bartholomay,G.A., R.T. Eckert, and K.T. Smith. 1997. Reductions in Tree-ring widths of white pine following ozone exposure at Acadia National Park. Canadian Journal Forest Resources. 27: 361-368

Berrang, P., D.F. Karnosky, R.A. Mickler, and J.P. Bennett. 1986. Natural Selection for Ozone Tolerance in Populus Tremuloides. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 16:1214-16.

Eckert, R.T., R.J. Kohut, J.A. Laurence, T.D. Lee, and P.S. King. 1995. An Approach to Detecting Ozone Injury in Remote Areas Using Controlled Exposure Studies and Indicator Species. Ecosystem Monitoring and Protected Areas, Editors Tom B. Herman, Soren Bondrup-Nielsen, J. H. Martin Willison, and Neil W. P. Munro.

Kahl, J.S., S.A. Norton, T.A. Haines, E.A. Rochette, R.H. Heath, and S.C. Nodvin. 1992. Mechanisms of Episodic Acidification in Low-Order Streams in Maine, USA. Environmental Pollution 78:37-44.

Kahl, J.S. et al. 1985. Technical Report : Water Resource Baseline Data and Assessment of Impacts From Acidic Precipitation, Acadia National Park, Maine. Technical Report Number 16.

Jagels, R., J. Carlisle, R. Cunningham, S. Serreze, and P. Tsai. 1989. Impact of Acid Fog and Ozone on Coastal Red Spruce. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 48:193-208.

Jagels, R., J. Carlisle, C. Cronan, R. Cunningham, G. Gordon, K.B. Piatek, S. Serreze, and C. Stubbs. 1988. Coastal Red Spruce Health Along an Acidic Fog/Ozone Gradient. Proceedings of the US/FRG Research Symposium : Effects of Atmospheric Pollutants on the Spruce-Fir Forests of the Eastern United States and the Federal Republic of Germany, 229-33. no. General Technical Report NE-120. Brommall, Pennsylvania: Northeast Forest Experiment Station.

Merrill,W.,N.G. Wenner,T.A. Dreisbach. 1996. Canavirgella banfieldii gen. And sp.nov.: a needlecast fungus on pine. Canadian Journal of Botany 74:1476-1481 (1996).

Norton, S.A., and J.S. Kahl. Boyle, T.P. 1987. A Comparison of Lake Sediments and Ombrotrophic Peat Deposits As Long-Term Monitors of Atmospheric Pollution. New Approaches to Monitoring Aquatic Ecosystems. 40-5740-57. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Society for Testing and Materials.

Sullivan, T.J. 1986. The Lichens of Acadia National Park, Maine. American Journal of Botany 73(5):612.

Theisen, A.F., B.N. Rock, and R.T. Eckert. 1994. Detection of Changes in Steady-State Chlorophyll Fluorescence in Pinus strobus Following Short-term Ozone Exposure. Journal Plant Physiology.Vol.144.pp.410-419 (1994).

Treshow, M., E.K. Sutherland, and J.P. Bennett. 1986. Tolerance and Susceptibility to Air Pollution, a New Direction in Sampling Strategy : a Case Study of Pinus Strobus L. in Acadia National Park, Maine. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Ecological Aspects of Tree-Ring Analysis. August 17-21, Marymount College, Tarrytown, N.Y.