Urban Smog Stunts Rural Trees

Scientists who determined to discover the impact of urban pollutants on trees have made a surprising discovery – trees planted near New York City’s congested streets actually grow twice as large as their rural counterparts. The results clash with assumptions that cities filled with concrete, asphalt and polluted skies are inhospitable to plants. But the recent findings don’t mean the Big Apple is a plant paradise, either.

Instead, the researchers attribute the trees’ stunted growth in rural areas to higher sustained levels of ozone in those places in comparison to the city. The study traced the growth of identical cottonwood trees in both kinds of locations.

“In the country, the trees were about up to my waist. In the city, they were almost over my head – it’s really dramatic,” said Jillian Gregg, the study’s lead author.

The findings appear in the July 10 issue of the journal Nature. The work was done by a team from Cornell University and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y.

Source: Associated Press