Atmospheric Ammonia: Absorption by Plant Leaves

Abstract

By monitoring the disappearance of ammonia from an airstream flowing through a small growth chamber containing a single plant seedling, it was discovered that plant leaves absorb significant quantities of ammonia from the air, even at naturally occurring low atmospheric concentrations. The measured absorption rates of ammonia showed large diurnal fluctuations and varied somewhat among species, but differed little with the nitrogen fertility level of plants within a species.