Fact Sheet - Plant Applications for Improving Air Quality

Updated 05/18/2009

Note: This page is a text version of the Norman A. Berg National Plant Materials Center Fact Sheet, Plant Applications for Improving Air Quality. A link is provided below to to a PDF version of this publication.

Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), ambient air quality standards are set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the following six major criteria air pollutants: particulate matter (PM), ground level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead, with particulate matter and ground level ozone as the criteria air pollutants of greatest concern for agricultural operations.

The need to address these air pollutants is more critical than ever. Air quality can be improved by using plants to:

• Reduce particulate matter from wind erosion,
• Manage particulate matter, ammonia, and odor coming from concentrated animal facilities, and
• Increase carbon sequestration.

Grasses and other vegetation help to hold soil in place and reduce airborne particulate matter in areas that may be subject to wind erosion. Long-term plantings can provide high rates of carbon sequestration in soil. Windbreaks and shelterbelts are useful in reducing wind speeds; the management of PM emissions from field operations; and the management, interception, and dispersion of PM, odor, and ammonia emissions from animal facilities. Windbreaks and shelterbelts also provide a great means to sequester carbon and provide wildlife habitat. Trees are used to buffer emissions from poultry operations.

The NRCS Plant Materials Centers located throughout the country provide effective plant solutions for air quality concerns. The Cape May Plant Materials Center in New Jersey continues to test native grasses to stabilize sand dunes along the eastern states coastline to lessen the impact of extreme coastal winds. This helps improve air quality by reducing wind-driven particulate matter in coastal communities.

The Colorado Plant Materials Center tests and maintains foundation seed for ‘Arriba’ western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii). ‘Arriba’ has been used in seed mixtures on hundreds of thousands of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres since the mid to late 1980s to control blowing soil in eastern Colorado. NRCS National Resources Inventory (NRI) data indicates evidence that tens of millions of tons of soil were prevented from entering the atmosphere as fugitive dust because of the ground cover that western wheatgrass and other plant materials released by the NRCS Plant Materials Program provided these CRP acres.

The Big Flats (NY) Plant Materials Center is cooperating with a Pennsylvania windbreak working group studying trees and shrubs to be planted near poultry production facilities to mitigate odor and particulate matter.

The Kansas Plant Materials Center is evaluating hackberry (Celtis spp.) and oak (Quercus spp.) tree species for windbreaks to protect highways, crop fields, and subdivisions from wind erosion. The Idaho Plant Materials Center is conducting similar studies. Windbreaks can provide protection to adjacent fields, structures, and roads for up to 15 times the height of the tallest tree in the windbreak.

A plant specialist at the New Mexico Plant Materials Center measures big sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) for use in arid climates as a tall, herbaceous grass barrier to trap abrasive soil particles that are transported by wind. Herbaceous wind barriers provide producers an economical means to protect fragile or specialty crop seedlings.

Additional information on this subject can be found in Technical Resources.

If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Leslie Glass at 701-250-4330.

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Fact Sheet - Plant Applications for Improving Air Quality (PDF; 344 KB) Aug 2007