Ozone levels in the Spanish Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range are above the thresholds for plant protection: analysis at 2262, 1850, and 995 m a.s.l.

Abstract

The Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, located at 60 km from Madrid City (Spain), includes high valuable ecosystems following an altitude gradient, some of them protected under the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. The characteristic Mediterranean climatic conditions and the precursors emitted from Madrid favor a high photochemical production of ozone (O) in the region. However, very little information is available about the patterns and levels of O and other air pollutants in the high elevation areas and their potential effects on vegetation. Ozone levels were monitored at three altitudes (2262, 1850, and 995 m a.s.l.) for at least 3 years within the 2005-2011 period. NO and SO were also recorded at the highest and lowest altitude sites. Despite the inter-annual and seasonal variations detected in the O concentrations, the study revealed that SG is exposed to a chronic O pollution. The two high elevation sites showed high O levels even in winter and at nighttime, having low correlation with local meteorological variables. At the lower elevation site, O levels were more related with local meteorological and pollution conditions. Ozone concentrations at the three sites exceeded the thresholds for the protection of human health and vegetation according to the European Air Quality Directive (EU/50/2008) and the thresholds for vegetation protection of the CLRTAP. Ozone should be considered as a stress factor for the health of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain ecosystems. Furthermore, since O levels at foothills differ from concentration in high elevation, monitoring stations in mountain ranges should be incorporated in regional air quality monitoring networks.

Increased tropospheric ozone levels enhance pathogen infection levels of amphibians

“…Ozone treatments were: charcoal filtered air (FA) mirroring the natural preindustrial background levels, non-filtered air (NFA) reproducing ambient levels of the farm and non-filtered air supplemented with 20 and 40 nL L -1 of O3 (NFA+ and NFA++ respectively) over an 8-hour period (07:00 to 15:00 GTM). Maximum hourly values at NFA++ during the exposure period ranged between 90-110 nL L -1 to achieve the sporadically maximum levels observed on the 10-year study of the O3 levels at Sierra de Guadarrama Mountains (Elvira et al, 2016).…”

“…Mediterranean mountains, which are hot spots for biodiversity (Myers et al, 2000) and frequently belong to protected areas like National Parks or Nature 2000 Network, are currently suffering extensively from elevated levels of tropospheric ozone (Saavedra et al, 2012;Adame and Sole, 2013;Elvira et al, 2016). In the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, the O3 levels recorded during the 2005-2011 period indicated that concentrations of this pollutant exceed the thresholds for human health, and can be more than three-fold above the standard values for plant protection, according to the Air Quality Directive EU/50/2008 (Elvira et al, 2016). Thus, a tropospheric O3 increase should be considered as a stress factor for the health of these ecosystems and their constituent parts.…”

“…Thus, a tropospheric O3 increase should be considered as a stress factor for the health of these ecosystems and their constituent parts. Although there are no standard values for fauna protection, the O3 seasonal and daily pattern at the highest altitudes, with high background values maintained during the night (Elvira et al, 2016) might increase the potential negative effect for nocturnal fauna like amphibians, which are already experiencing population declines in this region.…”

A methodology to assess the future connectivity of protected areas by combining climatic representativeness and land-cover change simulations: the case of the Guadarrama National Park (Madrid, Spain)

“…This implies that GNP will undergo a drastic change in its environmental conditions and that in the foreseeable future this would suppose the appearance of remarkably different environmental conditions from those that were considered in its creation as national park. This could be a risk for the persistence of this reserve and the biodiversity that or how vegetation is affected by pollutants arriving from the city of Madrid (Elvira et al 2016). All these studies raise the alarm over the risks and negative impacts that may appear in this national park.…”

The High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World

“…It can be considered a global hazard. Indeed, there are mountains particularly exposed to air masses that bring high ozone concentrations from source areas (Elvira et al 2016). Ozone is harmful both to plants and humans.…”