April 2022 - 14

Wildfire worries
in the Pacific Northwest
Fires cause smoke, ozone pollution that is harmful to plants
By Bill Schaefer
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
W
here there's smoke,
usually
fire, and
there's
that's
certainly been the case in the
Western U.S. in recent years.
The increasing number of Western
wildfires - which cause smoke and
higher levels of ozone pollution -
along with Pacific Northwest (PNW)
heat waves and reports of a
megadrought have farmers facing an
ongoing agricultural crisis of global
dimensions.
At
the
2022
Idaho
Potato
Conference, Mike Thornton and
Carrie Wohleb addressed present and
future concerns and measures to be
taken by potato growers facing these
ever-increasing natural disasters
during the growing season.
Wohleb, an associate professor and
potato, vegetable and seed Extension
specialist at Washington State
12
Spudman.com
University, addressed the potential
impact of wildfire smoke, residue
and ozone pollution on potato crop
development in the PNW.
" Wildfires are a problem because
they release a large amount of
carbon dioxide, brown carbon and
black carbon particles and ozone
precursors, like hydrocarbons that
when they mix with the air form
ozone, " Wohleb said.
Ozone is one of the more damaging
or harmful pollutants for plants, she
added. " It enters the stomata or the
pores on the leaves surfaces during
normal gas exchange processes of
the plant or taking in CO2 and then
once inside it forms reactive oxygen
species that can damage cell contents
and cell membranes. "
Long-term exposure to high
concentrations of ozone may result
in leaf and plant cell damage. While
chronic exposure to moderate or
lower levels doesn't seem to cause
visible injury to leaves, it may still
cause some impairment of plant
function and limit plant growth.
Potato plants, for example, tend to
show a stippling symptom - small
black spots - all over the leaves from
ozone exposure.
" New leaves that are produced after
the ozone and other pollutants have
dissipated can be perfectly normal, "
Wohleb said. " This is especially true
for indeterminate potato varieties like
Russet Burbank, that tend to continue
to put on new growth throughout the
growing season. "
Whereas plants that have more of a
determinate growth pattern and don't
develop more leaves after flowering,
such as Russet Norkotah, tend to
show more smoke damage.
" In addition to wildfires, ozone
can be formed by lightning strikes, "
Wohleb said. " So, you might see some
of those stippling symptoms after a
storm. "

http://www.Spudman.com

April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2022

April 2022 - 1
April 2022 - 2
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