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Air Convention attracts global scientific cooperation to look at pollution impacts on vegetation

Air pollution is damaging ecosystems and has adverse effects on crops. In order to improve the understanding of these impacts, and notably that of ground-level ozone pollution on crops and other vegetation, the International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops (ICP Vegetation) was established in 1987. This is one of the scientific bodies under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.  Since 2000, ICP Vegetation has also been monitoring the deposition of heavy metals, nitrogen and certain persistent organic pollutants to terrestrial ecosystems by sampling mosses across Europe. ICP Vegetation activities are not limited to the UNECE region, extending beyond Europe and North America to include countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia as well as in Asia, Africa and South America.


At its 29th annual meeting, hosted by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russian Federation, from 29 February to 4 March 2016, ICP Vegetation reviewed new evidence of ground-level ozone impacts on vegetation, discussed the consequences for biodiversity and considered new critical ozone levels. Participants also discussed progress within the 2015/16 moss monitoring network and welcomed the contributions of many scientists from countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia as well as from countries in Asia, Africa and South America. The meeting was attended by about 90 experts from 33 countries.


For further information, please visit: http://icpvegetation.ceh.ac.uk/

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