Science Inventory

Introduction to: Air Pollution Effects on Forests: A Guide to Species Ecology, Ecosystem Services, and Responses to Nitrogen and Sulfur Deposition. Herbs (Volume 2)

Citation:

Clark, Christopher M., M. Bell, F. Gilliam, K. Dillman, L. Geiser, L. Pardo, A. Eagleton, AND H. Mesraty. Introduction to: Air Pollution Effects on Forests: A Guide to Species Ecology, Ecosystem Services, and Responses to Nitrogen and Sulfur Deposition. Herbs (Volume 2). USDA Forest Service, 2026. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-1256

Impact/Purpose:

This is the introduction to a USFS General Technical Report (GTR), on the vulnerability of species to N and S deposition. All the material is from already published material (vol. 1, trees = Horn et al. 2018; vol. 2 (this one), herbs = Clark et al. 2019; vol. 3, lichen = Geiser et al. 2020/21).  This research determines which areas and species are most at risk from atmospheric deposition of N and S, and is relevant for air quality managers and land managers (e.g., at EPA, US Forest Service, National Park Service, and States).

Description:

This report assesses the risks from N and S deposition on 198 herbaceous plant species of the continental United States. Information for each species has been compiled from several peer-reviewed Federal and non-Federal sources. Seventy-one species are featured in detail. For each featured species, we provide information on seven topics: the (1) distribution and conservation status, (2) species characteristics and habitat, (3) wildlife and livestock uses, (4) other ecosystem services, (5) traditional ecological knowledge, (6) responses to N and S deposition, climate, soil pH, including interactions, (7) critical loads (CLs; deposition rates below which harm does not occur), confidence in the CLs, and geographic areas where CLs exceeded modeled deposition estimates for 2019–2021. The remaining 127 species did not have easily accessible ecological and ecosystem services information. For each of these species, we provide maps for topics (1) and (7) in the appendix. This report is part of a three-volume series covering the N and S deposition responses of trees (vol. 1), herbs (this vol. 2), and lichens (vol. 3).

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT( PUBLISHED REPORT/ REPORT)
Product Published Date:04/30/2026
Record Last Revised:05/12/2026
OMB Category:Other
Record ID: 369057