Effects of ozone on wild plants

Abstract

Although there is a great deal of concern about the effects of human activities on biodiversity, until recently there has been very little interest in the effects of ozone on the species that constitute the major part of the flora, the diverse herbaceous and shrubby species of natural and semi-natural communities. However, many wild species have been shown to be at least as sensitive to ozone as crops that show significant yield losses, so there is a pressing need for an evaluation of the risk to wild species posed by ozone. This review attempts to assess progress and highlight problems. It begins with a comment on semantics, discusses the difficulties involved in measuring relative ozone resistance and then proceeds to consider the effects of ozone on growth and resource allocation. The evidence for evolution of resistance is appraised and then the potential effects of several interactions (cutting/grazing, competition, soil water deficit and nutrition) are considered. The review ends with some remarks on observation of oxidant-induced changes in ecosystems.