Understanding how ozone impacts plant water-use efficiency

作者：Lucas A. Cernusak, Mst Nahid Farha, Alexander W. Cheesman · 发表于：Tree Physiology · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1093/treephys/tpab125 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Plant responses to elevated CO2、Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols

This scientific commentary refer to ‘Combining carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures to identify ozone-induced declines in tree water-use efficiency’ by Li et al. (doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpab041). Ozone (O3) in the troposphere is an important air pollutant that causes adverse effects on plants and ecosystems worldwide (Ainsworth et al. 2012, Grulke and Heath 2020). Tropospheric O3 occurs in the atmosphere naturally through the photochemical reactions of O3 precursors: nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO). The abundance of these O3 precursors can be elevated due to anthropogenic activities, for example chemical emissions from vehicles, industrial processes and biomass burning (Ainsworth et al. 2020). On average, the surface [O3] has more than doubled since 1850 due to rapid global industrialization and urbanization (Monks et al. 2015, Ainsworth 2017). This increased [O3] has contributed to a direct radiative forcing of +0.40 W m−2 on the climate, making O3 the third most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas following CO2 and CH4 (Ainsworth et al. 2020). Current O3 concentrations have been shown to cause leaf cellular damage through oxidative stress, ultimately reducing plant growth and productivity of vegetation communities (Ainsworth et al. 2012). A meta-analysis comparing northern temperate trees exposed to ambient [O3] (on average 40 p.p.b.) with those exposed to charcoal-filtered air suggested that O3 reduced n...