Plant Pathology Faculty Pages: John M. Skelly

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John M. Skelly
Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology

211 Buckhout Laboratory
University Park, Pa 16802
E-mail: jms34@psu.edu

Areas of Interest
	Air pollution effects on forest trees and forest ecosystems; forest pathology

Education | Program Interests | Publications

Education

B.S., Forestry , Penn State
M.S., Plant Pathology, Penn State
Ph.D., Plant Pathology, Penn State

Program Interests

Air pollutants are important pathogens of concern to the health and productivity of forests across much of the eastern United States. Forests of north central Pennsylvania are often exposed to long-range transported air pollutants from the urban and industrial Midwest. Tropospheric ozone is the pollutant of greatest concern. Understanding pollutant-induced effects on individual tree species, forest communities, and ecosystem processes is essential for providing a scientific database for our National Ambient Air Quality Standards as administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

My research and graduate education program focuses on determining the effects of gaseous pollutants (e.g., tropospheric ozone) and the effects of total atmospheric depositions on the health and productivity of Pennsylvania's forest vegetation. Emphasis has been placed on long-term monitoring of ambient pollutant exposures and on the determination of seasonal and long-term exposure/response effects as studied under ambient conditions within natural forest settings.

Forest studies involve development of survey techniques for evaluating foliar injury on ozone-sensitive forest species inclusive of efforts to identify potential bioindicators for this regionally important air pollutant. Open-top chamber facilities have been located at forested sites to permit evaluation of seedlings grown in filtered air for comparison to sapling and mature canopy tree responses growing under ambient conditions of pollutant exposures. Pre-visual physiological response measures are monitored throughout the growing seasons for later comparisons to eventual foliar injuries within the various trees and conditions of exposure. Laboratory and greenhouse facilities inclusive of a continuously stirred tank reactor exposure chamber are available for controlled exposure response investigations.

Most recently, a study has been initiated on the use of interior landscape plants as possible bioremediators of indoor air pollutants, such as ozone and carbon dioxide.

Publications

Simini, M., J. M. Skelly, D. D. Davis, J. E. Savage, and A. C. Comrie. 1992. "Sensitivity of four hardwood species to ambient ozone in northcentral Pennsylvania." Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 22:1789-1799.

Audley, D. E., and J. M. Skelly. 1994. "A twig canker of red spruce in high elevation forests of West Virginia." Plant Disease 78:569-571.

Skelly, J. M., and J. L. Innes. 1994. "Waldsterben in the forests of Europe and eastern North America: Fantasy or reality?" Plant Disease 78:1021-1032.

Skelly, J. M., and E. S. Hildebrand. 1994. "Occurrence and severity of ozone injury on sensitive hardwood species in Shenandoah National Park." Final Report. USDOI, National Park Service, Air Quality Division. Penn State Environmental Resources Research Institute, University Park. Pp. 263.

Fredericksen, T. S., J. M. Skelly, K. C. Steiner, T. E. Kolb, B. J. Joyce, and K. B. Kouterick. 1996. "Size-mediated foliar response to ozone in black cherry trees." Environmental Pollution 91:53-63.

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Last modified Monday, May 19, 2008