2017 Extension impact statement by Professor Donald D. Davis, Ph.D.
Dr. Donald Davis worked with collaborators to evaluate ozone Injury to vegetation within U.S. Fish & Wildlife Refuges many of which are protected under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1977. By federal law, air quality related values (AQRVs) in Class I areas must be protected from deterioration. Despite this special protection, Davis' work found significant levels of ozone injury occurring in several National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) containing Wilderness Areas including the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR. The Forsythe NWR is one of the original four United States wetlands designated in the List of Wetlands of International Importance under the United Nations Convention on Wetlands of International Importance in 1987. The Forsythe NWR is also a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site, part of The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, and contains The New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. The refuge also contains the Brigantine Wilderness Area, a Class I air quality area that, by law, receives protection under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1977. Published findings, are the basis for forming more restrictive federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, which will be more protective of terrestrial ecosystems. This work has altered our understanding of ozone effects on NWRs in Florida/Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin.