Abstract
Tropospheric ozone is one of the most reactive air pollutants, which
causes visible injuries, as well as biomass and yield losses. The negative
effect of ozone is cumulative during the growing season; hence crops are
the most sensitive plants. Visible symptoms and biomass losses can cause
economic losses. Tobacco plants have been recognized as one of the best
bioindicators, but data on the cumulative effect of ozone on this species
are limited. Results of an experiment with ozone-sensitive tobacco plants
grown on sites varying in ozone concentration are presented in this paper.
Two indices were used for data presentation of visible leaf injury degree.
Higher solar radiation was the main cause of higher ozone concentration at
the rural site. Higher tropospheric ozone concentrations were noted in
2010 in comparison to 2011, which was reflected in visible leaf injury.
Canonical variate analysis did not reveal highly significant differences
between sites, however, differences were observed in certain investigation
periods. Moreover, higher leaf injury was noted at the rural site at the
end of the experiment in both experimental years. This indicates the
cumulative effect of ozone during the growing season. However, higher
injury variability was noted at the urban site, even though lower ozone
concentrations were noted there. Lower variability of injury at the rural
site might suggest lack of influence of particulate matter and occurrence
of higher injury even though lower ozone concentrations occurred. Better
detection of ozone injury was shown by the first index based on three mean
values.
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Authors and Affiliations
Anita Schroeter-Zakrzewska