In comparison with the effects of extended drought periods or
severe nutrient stress, those of ozone are generally
much milder, at least with respect to growth. However, there is
substantial evidence from experiments, in the main
using young saplings, that O3 does impose a stress on forest
trees
under European conditions. Decreased
chlorophyll contents and photosynthetic rates, changes in carbon allocation,
increased antioxidant activity, and
reductions in biomass due to O3 have often been recorded,
particularly in fast-growing species. Furthermore, 3
appears to weaken the trees' resilience to a range of biotic and
abiotic stresses. Interactions between O3 and climatic
stress, in particular drought and frost hardiness, are likely to result
in potentially detrimental effects.
A link between the occurrence of O3 and forest damage is
not
unequivocally established in Europe, and the
problem remains of extrapolating and/or scaling up from studies on
seedlings to predict responses to O3 of mature
trees and forest stands, because we know so little about acclimation to
O3.
An accurate assessment is also lacking
of the magnitude of the O3 effect on European trees both in
terms of the forest areas affected and its extent. In
this review we suggest that C allocation is the key factor underlying
the responses of trees to O3. Stomata also play
a key role, since the acquisition of C must be achieved while an
effective control over water consumption is retained.