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Ground-level ozone (O(3)) has gained awareness as an agent of climate change. In this respect, key results are comprehended from a unique 8-year free-air O(3)-fumigation experiment, conducted on adult beech (Fagus sylvatica) at Kranzberg Forest (Germany). A novel canopy O(3) exposure methodology was employed that allowed whole-tree assessment in situ under twice-ambient O(3) levels. Elevated O(3) significantly weakened the C sink strength of the tree-soil system as evidenced by lowered photosynthesis and 44% reduction in whole-stem growth, but increased soil respiration. Associated effects in leaves and roots at the gene, cell and organ level varied from year to year, with drought being a crucial determinant of O(3) responsiveness. Regarding adult individuals of a late-successional tree species, empirical proof is provided first time in relation to recent modelling predictions that enhanced ground-level O(3) can substantially mitigate the C sequestration of forests in view of climate change., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the face of climate change and accompanying risks, forest management in Europe is becoming increasingly important. Model simulations can help to understand the reactions and feedbacks of a changing environment on tree growth. In order to simulate forest growth based on future climate change scenarios, we tested the basic processes underlying the growth model BALANCE, simulating stand climate (air temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and precipitation), tree phenology, and photosynthesis. A mixed stand of 53- to 60-year-old Norway spruce (Picea abies) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) in Southern Germany was used as a reference. The results show that BALANCE is able to realistically simulate air temperature gradients in a forest stand using air temperature measurements above the canopy and PAR regimes at different heights for single trees inside the canopy. Interception as a central variable for water balance of a forest stand was also estimated. Tree phenology, i.e. bud burst and leaf coloring, could be reproduced convincingly. Simulated photosynthesis rates were in accordance with measured values for beech both in the sun and the shade crown. For spruce, however, some discrepancies in the rates were obvious, probably due to changed environmental conditions after bud break. Overall, BALANCE has shown to respond to scenario simulations of a changing environment (e.g., climate change, change of forest stand structure).

Stomatal O3 fluxes to a mixed beech/spruce stand (Fagus sylvatica/Picea abies) in Central Europe were determined using two different approaches. The sap flow technique yielded the tree-level transpiration, whereas the eddy covariance method provided the stand-level evapotranspiration. Both data were then converted into stomatal ozone fluxes, exemplifying this novel concept for July 2007. Sap flow-based stomatal O3 flux was 33% of the total O3 flux, whereas derivation from evapotranspiration rates in combination with the Penman-Monteith algorithm amounted to 47%. In addition to this proportional difference, the sap flow-based assessment yielded lower levels of stomatal O3 flux and reflected stomatal regulation rather than O3 exposure, paralleling the daily courses of canopy conductance for water vapor and eddy covariance-based total stand-level O3 flux. The demonstrated combination of sap flow and eddy covariance approaches supports the development of O3 risk assessment in forests from O3 exposure towards flux-based concepts., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Exposure and flux-based indices of O3 risk were compared, at 19 forest locations across Bavaria in southern Germany from 2002 to 2005; leaf symptoms on mature beech trees found at these locations were also examined for O3 injury. O3 flux modelling was performed using continuously recorded O3 concentrations in combination with meteorological and soil moisture data collected from Level II forest sites. O3 measurements at nearby rural open-field sites proved appropriate as surrogates in cases where O3 data were lacking at forest sites (with altitude-dependent average differences of about 10% between O3 concentrations). Operational thresholds of biomass loss for both O3 indices were exceeded at the majority of the forest locations, suggesting similar risk under long-term average climate conditions. However, exposure-based indices estimated higher O3 risk during dry years as compared to the flux-based approach. In comparison, minor O3-like leaf injury symptoms were detected only at a few of the forest sites investigated. Relationships between flux-based risk thresholds and tree response need to be established for mature forest stands for validation of predicted growth reductions under the prevailing O3 regimes.

The broad range in plant responses to chronic O(3) exposure compels a search for integrative, underlying principles. One such approach is the unifying theory proposed by Reich (1987), which combines the O(3) response of contrasting physiognomic classes of plants on the basis of their intrinsic leaf diffusive conductance and, hence, capacity for O(3) uptake. Physiognomic classes differ in the proportional decline in photosynthesis and growth when compared on the basis of cumulative O(3) exposure per unit time, but converge when compared on the basis of O(3) uptake per unit time or cumulative O(3) uptake over the entire lifetime of the leaf. The theory is based on observations on a large number of contrasting plant species, relying primarily on studies of juvenile trees subjected to short-term O(3) exposure. To test the applicability of the unifying theory to mature trees, broadleaf deciduous European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and the evergreen conifer Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in a mature mixed stand were exposed to either ambient air (control) or air with twice the ambient O(3) concentration delivered into the canopy by means of a free-air fumigation system. We accounted for differences in growing season length, leaf longevity and O(3)-related effects on leaf diffusive conductance in determining total O(3) uptake over the lifetime of the leaf. On this basis, Norway spruce needles required 5 years to take up as much O(3) as did beech leaves in one growing season. The core of the unifying theory on O(3) sensitivity was substantiated in relation to O(3) exposure and uptake. However, contrary to the unifying theory, which was formulated on the basis of results with juvenile trees, the O(3) response of mature trees in a natural stand was more complex. The increased complexity was attributed to additional environmental stressors, stress compensation at the whole-tree level, and differential O(3) sensitivities of leaves according to age class and position within the canopy. Contrary to the theory, photosynthesis was no less sensitive to O(3) in Norway spruce than that of beech, and was reduced in the twice-ambient O(3) regime in the first year of exposure.

The responsiveness of adult beech and spruce trees to chronic O(3) stress was studied at a free-air O(3) exposure experiment in Freising/Germany. Over three growing seasons, gas exchange characteristics, biochemical parameters, macroscopic O(3) injury and the phenology of leaf organs were investigated, along with assessments of branch and stem growth as indications of tree performance. To assess response pattern to chronic O(3) stress in adult forest trees, we introduce a new evaluation approach, which provides a comprehensive, readily accomplishable overview across several tree-internal scaling levels, different canopy regions and growing seasons. This new approach, based on a three-grade colour coding, combines statistical analysis and the proficient ability of the "human eye" in pattern recognition.