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AbstarctIn recognition of the rising threats of ground-level ozone (O3) pollution to forests, agricultural crops, and other types of vegetation, accurate and realistic risk assessment is urgently needed. The accumulated O3 exposure over a concentration threshold of 40 nmol mol−1 (AOT40) is the most commonly used metric to investigate O3 exposure and its effects on vegetation and to conduct vegetation risk assessment. It is also used by international regulatory authorities for deriving critical levels and setting standards to protect vegetation against surface O3. However, fixed periods of the growing season are used universally, yet growing seasons vary with latitudes and elevations, and the periods of plant lifespan also differ among annual species. Here, we propose the concept of the Annual O3 Spectrum Profile (AO3SP) and apply it to calculate the profile of AOT40 throughout the year (AAOT40SP, Annual AOT40 Spectrum Profile) using the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) weeks as a shorter window ISO-based accumulated exposure. Using moving time periods of three (for crops) or six (for forests) months, the isoAOT40 behavior throughout the year can be examined as a diagnostic tool for O3 risks in the short- or long-term during the lifecycle of local vegetation. From this analysis, AOT40 (isoAOT40) that is most representative for the local conditions and specific situations can be identified, depending on the exact growing season and lifecycle of the target vegetation. We applied this novel approach to data from five background monitoring stations located at different elevations in Cyprus. Our results show that the AAOT40SP approach can be used for improved and more realistic assessment of O3 risks to vegetation. The AO3SP approach can also be applied using metrics other than AOT40 (exposure- or flux-based), adding a new dimension to the way O3 risk to vegetation is assessed.

Ground-level ozone (O

East Asia is a hotspot of surface ozone (O3) pollution, which hinders crop growth and reduces yields. Here, we assess the relative yield loss in rice, wheat and maize due to O3 by combining O3 elevation experiments across Asia and air monitoring at about 3,000 locations in China, Japan and Korea. China shows the highest relative yield loss at 33%, 23% and 9% for wheat, rice and maize, respectively. The relative yield loss is much greater in hybrid than inbred rice, being close to that for wheat. Total O3-induced annual loss of crop production is estimated at US$63 billion. The large impact of O3 on crop production urges us to take mitigation action for O3 emission control and adaptive agronomic measures against the rising surface O3 levels across East Asia.

Elevated concentrations of ground‐level ozone (O₃) and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition occur concurrently. The negative effects of elevated O₃ on plants have been widely studied and are well understood nowadays. However, how the effects of elevated O₃ on plants may be driven by N deposition remains an unsolved puzzle. We conducted a meta‐analysis and showed that the negative effects of elevated O₃ on photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, growth and biomass production of semi‐natural and natural vegetation may remain unchanged by N deposition in the coming future under realistic increases in O₃ concentrations (+20 to 40 ppb) and N deposition (up to 60 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹). The negative effect of elevated O₃ on chlorophyll content is offset by soil N addition; however, the negative effect on biomasses is not offset by soil N addition. Across functional groups and O₃ levels, N addition exacerbated O₃ effects on root when N increased from 0–10 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ to 11–30 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. However, an analysis as per the plant functional group revealed that such a N‐dependent O₃ effect was significant only in perennial non‐woody plants, and was non‐significant when only realistic increases in O₃ concentrations were considered. Likewise, N addition appeared to exacerbate O₃‐negative effects on photosynthesis of trees when N increased from 0–30 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ to >60 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹; however, this effect was significant only when realistic increases in O₃ concentrations were considered. The results suggest potential error in the current estimates of the overall O₃ impacts on plants due to no consideration of soil N availability, and encourage further studies on the interaction of O₃ and N availability that will permit more robust analyses in the future. Elevated O₃ will likely remain a persistent agricultural and ecological issue independently of N deposition. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Background The paper presents an overview of air quality in the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (previous EU-28), from 2000 to 2017. We reviewed the progress made towards meeting the air quality standards established by the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (European Council Directive 2008/50/EC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines by estimating the trends (Mann-Kendal test) in national emissions of main air pollutants, urban population exposure to air pollution, and in mortality related to exposure to ambient fine particles (PM2.5) and tropospheric ozone (O3). Results Despite significant reductions of emissions (e.g., sulfur oxides: ~ 80%, nitrogen oxides: ~ 46%, non-methane volatile organic compounds: ~ 44%, particulate matters with a diameter lower than 2.5 µm and 10 µm: ~ 30%), the EU-28 urban population was exposed to PM2.5 and O3 levels widely exceeding the WHO limit values for the protection of human health. Between 2000 and 2017, the annual PM2.5-related number of deaths decreased (- 4.85 per 106 inhabitants) in line with a reduction of PM2.5 levels observed at urban air quality monitoring stations. The rising O3 levels became a major public health issue in the EU-28 cities where the annual O3-related number of premature deaths increased (+ 0.55 deaths per 106 inhabitants). Conclusions To achieve the objectives of the Ambient Air Quality Directives and mitigate air pollution impacts, actions need to be urgently taken at all governance levels. In this context, greening and re‐naturing cities and the implementation of fresh air corridors can help meet air quality standards, but also answer to social needs, as recently highlighted by the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Context : Ozone concentrations near the land surface are rising in Asia while they are declining or stagnating in Europe and North America. Ozone is the most widespread air pollutant negatively affecting vegetation, and its increased concentrations pose a major threat to food quality and production and other ecosystem services in Asia. Method : In this review, we provide an overview of scientific challenges in the impacts of ozone pollution on Asian vegetation, and synthesize the challenges toward mitigation of the impacts. Result : We argue that new policy initiatives need to seek both reduction of ozone levels and enhancement of plant tolerance to ozone to maintain food quality and ensure food supplies. Conclusion : The scientific advancements must be transferred to actions by two types of institutions: a) environmental agencies for reducing ozone levels and b) agricultural research institutions for enhancing plant tolerance to ozone. In connecting the scientific advancements with the institutional actions, scientists in Asian countries should play the key role taking advantages of interdisciplinary and international collaborations.

18 pages, 5 figures, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109175.-- The data supporting the findings of this study are available in the Supplementary Materials (Appendix 3–5, Table A3-A5). Raw datasets (where available) and results summary tables for each analysis of human mobility and empirical datasets are deposited in a github repository: https://github.com/rjcommand/PAN-Environment, The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness, The Canada Research Chairs program provided funding for the core writing team. Field research funding was provided by A.G. Leventis Foundation; Agence Nationale de la Recherche, [grant number ANR-18-32–0010CE-01 (JCJC PEPPER)]; Agencia Estatal de Investigaci; Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI), [grant number M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002]; Alan Peterson; ArcticNet; Arkadaşlar; Army Corp of Engineers; Artificial Reef Program; Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), National Collaborative; Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), University of Tasmania; Australian Institute of Marine Science; Australian Research Council, [grant number LP140100222]; Bai Xian Asia Institute; Batubay Özkan; BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Bertarelli Foundation; Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science; Bilge Bahar; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Biology Society of South Australia; Boston University; Burak Över; California State Assembly member Patrick O'Donnell; California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology; California State University Long Beach; Canada Foundation for Innovation (Major Science Initiative Fund and funding to Oceans Network Canada), [grant number MSI 30199 for ONC]; Cape Eleuthera Foundation; Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Charles Darwin Foundation, [grant number 2398]; Colombian Institute for the Development of Science and Technology (COLCIENCIAS), [grant number 811–2018]; Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, [grant number 0041–2020]; Columbia Basin Trust; Commission for Environmental Cooperation; Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Cultural practices and environmental certification of beaches, Universidad de la Costa, Colombia, [grant number INV.1106–01–002-15, 2020–21]; Department of Conservation New Zealand; Direction de l'Environnement de Polynésie Française; Disney Conservation Fund; DSI-NRF Centre of; Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology; Ecology Project International; Emin Özgür; Environment and Climate Change Canada; European Community: RTD programme - Species Support to Policies; European Community's Seventh Framework Programme; European Union; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, [grant number 798091, 794938]; Faruk Eczacıbaşı; Faruk Yalçın Zoo; Field research funding was provided by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, [grant numbers FWC-12164, FWC-14026, FWC-19050]; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional; Fonds québécois de la recherche nature et technologies; Foundation Segré; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT Portugal); Galapagos National Park Directorate research, [grant number PC-41-20]; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, [grant number GBMF9881 and GBMF 8072]; Government of Tristan da Cunha; Habitat; Conservation Trust Foundation; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment; Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Sevastopol, Russia; Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil; Israeli Academy of Science's Adams Fellowship; King Family Trust; Labex, CORAIL, France; Liber Ero Fellowship; LIFE (European Union), [grant number LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874]; María de Maeztu Program for Units of Excellence in R&D; Ministry of Science and Innovation, FEDER, SPASIMM,; Spain, [grant number FIS2016–80067-P (AEI/FEDER, UE)]; MOE-Korea, [grant number 2020002990006]; Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund; Montreal Space for Life; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program; National Geographic Society, [grant numbers NGS-82515R-20]; National Natural Science Fund of China; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Parks Board, Singapore; National Science and Technology Major Project of China; National Science Foundation, [grant number DEB-1832016]; Natural Environment Research Council of the UK; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Alliance COVID-19 grant program, [grant numbers ALLRP 550721–20, RGPIN-2014-06229 (year: 2014), RGPIN-2016-05772 (year: 2016)]; Neiser Foundation; Nekton Foundation; Network of Centre of Excellence of Canada: ArcticNet; North Family Foundation; Ocean Tracking Network; Ömer Külahçıoğlu; Oregon State University; Parks Canada Agency (Lake Louise, Yoho, and Kootenay Field Unit); Pew Charitable Trusts; Porsim Kanaf partnership; President's International Fellowship Initiative for postdoctoral researchers Chinese Academy of Sciences, [grant number 2019 PB0143]; Red Sea Research Center; Regional Government of the Azores, [grant number M3.1a/F/025/2015]; Regione Toscana; Rotary Club of Rhinebeck; Save our Seas Foundation; Science & Technology (CSU COAST); Science City Davos, Naturforschende Gesellschaft Davos; Seha İşmen; Sentinelle Nord program from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund; Servizio Foreste e Fauna (Provincia Autonoma di Trento); Sigrid Rausing Trust; Simon Fraser University; Sitka Foundation; Sivil Toplum Geliştirme Merkezi Derneği; South African National Parks (SANParks); South Australian Department for Environment and Water; Southern California Tuna Club (SCTC); Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; State of California; Sternlicht Family Foundation; Suna Reyent; Sunshine Coast Regional Council; Tarea Vida, CEMZOC, Universidad de Oriente, Cuba, [grant number 10523, 2020]; Teck Coal; The Hamilton Waterfront Trust; The Ian Potter Foundation, Coastwest, Western Australian State NRM; The Red Sea Development Company; The Wanderlust Fund; The Whitley Fund; Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline; Tula Foundation (Hakai Institute); University of Arizona; University of Pisa; US Fish and Wildlife Service; US Geological Survey; Valencian Regional Government; Vermont Center for Ecostudies; Victorian Fisheries Authority; VMRC Fishing License Fund; and Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S

Ground-level ozone (O3) is the main phytotoxic air pollutant causing crop yield reduction in China. As the main grain producing area in China, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is facing serious O3 pollution. This study analyzed the hourly ground-level O3 observation data of 158 stations from 2014 to 2019 in YRD, and grain production data of 193 districts and counties. The exposure-response relationships based on AOT40 (accumulated hourly O3 concentration above 40 ppb) was used to estimate the yield loss and economic loss of two food crops (winter wheat and rice). This study used spatial interpolation and calculated the specific data values of each district and county in order to improve the assessment reliability. For years 2014–2019, averaged O3 concentration during the 75 days growing period of rice and wheat were 33.1–50.6 ppb and 32.2–48.0 ppb, AOT40 value were 5.2–12.0 ppm h and 4.6–9.4 ppm h, and the averaged relative yield losses were 4.9%–11.4% and 9.4%–19.3%, respectively. The trend of O3 in the YRD in a six-year period peaked in 2016 and 2017 for rice and winter wheat, respectively. During 2014–2017, the average estimated yield loss of rice was 2445 Mt. accounting for about 9.1% of the actual production, and the average estimated economic loss was about 1037 million USD; for winter wheat, it was 2025 Mt, 20.4% and 736 million USD, respectively. These results urge governments to provide effective policies and measures to control O3 pollution.

Maize is the second most important crop per harvested area in the world. The North China Plain (NCP) is a highly populated and relevant agricultural region in China, experiencing some of the highest ozone (O3) concentrations worldwide. It produces ~24% of the total maize production of China in years 2014–2017. For these years, we used observational O3 data in combination with geostatistic methods to estimate county-level production and economic losses due to O3 in the NCP. AOT40 (accumulated ozone exposure over an hourly threshold of 40 ppb) values during the maize growing season (90 days before maturity) progressively increased in the four consecutive years: 13.7 ppm h, 15.4 ppm h, 16.9 ppm h and 22.7 ppm h. Mean relative yield losses were 8.2% in 2014, 9.2% in 2015, 10.4% in 2016 and 13.4% in 2017. These yield losses, derived from exposure-response functions, resulted in crop production losses of 530.3 × 104 t, 617.8 × 104 t, 713.8 × 104 t, and 953.4 × 104 t, as well as economic losses of 2343 million USD, 2672 million USD, 1887 million USD, and 2404 million USD from 2014 to 2017. The NCP is a key area in China for monitoring the effectiveness of the clean air action policies aiming at reducing emissions of air pollutants. Despite these measures, O3 concentrations have increased in NCP, and reduction of this pollutant are challenging. We suggest an increase in the number of rural air quality stations for better characterizing O3 trends in cropland areas, as well as the application of different mitigation measures. They may involve more stringent air quality regulations and changes in crops, breeding tolerant cultivars and a crop management taking into account O3 pollution.

Elevated levels of ground-level ozone threaten terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity., Elevated tropospheric ozone concentrations induce adverse effects in plants. We reviewed how ozone affects (i) the composition and diversity of plant communities by affecting key physiological traits; (ii) foliar chemistry and the emission of volatiles, thereby affecting plant-plant competition, plant-insect interactions, and the composition of insect communities; and (iii) plant-soil-microbe interactions and the composition of soil communities by disrupting plant litterfall and altering root exudation, soil enzymatic activities, decomposition, and nutrient cycling. The community composition of soil microbes is consequently changed, and alpha diversity is often reduced. The effects depend on the environment and vary across space and time. We suggest that Atlantic islands in the Northern Hemisphere, the Mediterranean Basin, equatorial Africa, Ethiopia, the Indian coastline, the Himalayan region, southern Asia, and Japan have high endemic richness at high ozone risk by 2100.

Ozone (O3) pollution can induce changes in plant growth and metabolism, and in turn, affects isoprene emission (ISO), but the extent of these effects may be modified by co-occurring soil water and nitrogen (N) availability. To date, however, much less is known about the combined effects of two of these factors on isoprene emission from plants. We investigated for the first time the combined effects of O3 exposure (CF, charcoal-filtered air; EO3, non-filtered air plus 40 ppb of O3), N addition (N0, no additional N; N50, 50 kg ha−1 year−1 of N) and moderate drought (WW, well-watered; WR, 40% of WW irrigation) on photosynthetic carbon assimilation and ISO emission in hybrid poplar at both leaf- and plant-level over time. Consistent with leaf-level photosynthesis (Pnleaf) and ISO (ISOleaf) responses, plant-level ISO (ISOplant) responses to O3, N addition and moderate drought were more marked after long exposure (September) than short exposure duration (July). EO3 significantly decreased ISOleaf and Pnleaf, while WR and N50 significantly increased them. Although O3 and water interacted significantly to affect Pnleaf over the exposure duration, neither N50 nor WR mitigated the negative effects of EO3 on ISOleaf. When ISO was scaled up to the plant level, the WR-induced increase in ISOleaf under EO3 was offset by a reduction in total leaf area. By contrast, effects of EO3 on ISOplant were not changed by N addition. Our results highlight that the dynamic effects on ISO emission change over the exposure duration depending on involved co-occurring factors and evaluation scales.

This study presents a reanalysis of ozone (O3) exposure experiments performed on deciduous broadleaf oak species in the Mediterranean region and a proposal of critical levels to improve the O3 risk assessment in this area for these widely distributed forest species. Two experiments performed in Spain and Italy were considered, and the following 3 oak species were studied: Quercus pyrenaica, Q. faginea and Q. robur. All the experiments were performed with irrigated potted seedlings growing in Open-Top Chambers exposed to different O3 levels (with charcoal-filtered air as the control treatment) for two consecutive growing seasons. The Phytotoxic Ozone Dose above an instantaneous threshold of 1 nmol O3 m−2 s−1 (POD1) was calculated by applying a Jarvis type model for the estimation of the stomatal conductance (gs), and by adopting a big-leaf resistive scheme to account for the O3 deposition on the vegetation. Two parameterisations were used for the gs multiplicative model: one species-specific based on the “local” gs measurements performed during each experiment, and the other “generic” based on the “Deciduous Mediterranean broadleaf” parameterisation described in the Manual on Methodologies and Criteria for Mapping Critical Loads and Levels and Air Pollution Effects, Risks and Trends of the UN/ECE (CLRTAP, 2015). The two different parameterisations were used to derive dose-response functions and ozone critical levels for the biomass loss of the deciduous oak species. The dose-response functions for roots and total biomass were statistically significant, with both the parameterisations tested (p

Wheat is a major staple food and its sensitivity to the gas pollutant ozone (O3) depends on the cultivar. However, few chamber-less studies assessed current ambient O3 effects on a large number of wheat cultivars. In this study, we used ethylenediurea (EDU), an O3 protectant whose protection mechanisms are still unclear, to test photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange, antioxidants, and yield of 15 cultivars exposed to 17.4 ppm h AOT40 (accumulated O3 over an hourly concentration threshold of 40 ppb) over the growing season at Beijing suburb, China. EDU significantly increased light-saturated photosynthesis rate (Asat), photosynthetic pigments (i.e., chlorophyll and carotenoid), and total antioxidant capacity, while reduced malondialdehyde and reduced ascorbate contents. In comparison with EDU-treated plants (control), plants treated with water (no protection from ambient O3) significantly decreased yield, weight of 1000 grains, and harvest index by 20.3%, 15.1%, and 14.2%, respectively, across all cultivars. There was a significant interaction between EDU and cultivars in all tested variables with exception of Asat, chlorophyll, and carotenoid. The cultivar-specific sensitivity to O3 was ranked from highly sensitive (> 25% change) to less sensitive (

Five winter wheat cultivars were exposed to ambient (A-O3) and elevated (E-O3, 1.5 ambient) O3 in a fully open-air fumigation system in China. Ozone exposure- and flux based response relationships were established for seven physiological variables related to photosynthesis. The performance of the fitting of the regressions in terms of R2 increased when second order regressions instead of first order ones were used, suggesting that effects of O3 were more pronounced towards the last developmental stages of the wheat. The more robust indicators were those related with CO2 assimilation, Rubisco activity and RuBP regeneration capacity (Asat, Jmax and Vcmax), and chlorophyll content (Chl). Flux-based metrics (PODy, Phytotoxic O3 Dose over a threshold y nmol O3 m− 2 s− 1) predicted slightly better the responses to O3 than exposure metrics (AOTX, Accumulated O3 exposure over an hourly Threshold of X ppb) for most of the variables. The best performance was observed for metrics POD1 (Asat, Jmax and Vcmax) and POD3 (Chl). For this crop, the proposed response functions could be used for O3 risk assessment based on physiological effects and also to include the influence of O3 on yield or other variables in models with a photosynthetic component.

The effects of elevated ozone on C (carbon), N (nitrogen) and P (phosphorus) ecological stoichiometry and nutrient resorption in different organs including leaves, stems and roots were investigated in poplar clones 546 (P. deltoides cv. '55/56' × P. deltoides cv. 'Imperial') and 107 (P. euramericana cv. '74/76') with a different sensitivity to ozone. Plants were exposed to two ozone treatments, NF (non-filtered ambient air) and NF60 (NF with targeted ozone addition of 60 ppb), for 96 days in open top chambers (OTCs). Significant ozone effects on most variables of C, N and P ecological stoichiometry were found except for the C concentration and the N/P in different organs. Elevated ozone increased both N and P concentrations of individual organs while for C/N and C/P ratios a reduction was observed. On these variables, ozone had a greater effect for clone 546 than for clone 107. N concentrations of different leaf positions ranked in the order upper > middle > lower, showing that N was transferred from the lower senescent leaves to the upper ones. This was also indicative of N resorption processes, which increased under elevated ozone. N resorption of clone 546 was 4 times larger than that of clone 107 under ambient air (NF). However, elevated ozone (NF60) had no significant effect on P resorption for both poplar clones, suggesting that their growth was only limited by N, while available P in the soil was enough to sustain growth. Understanding ecological stoichiometric responses under ozone stress is crucial to predict future effects on ecological processes and biogeochemical cycles.

The relationships of CO2 assimilation under saturated-light conditions (Asat) with exposure- (AOTX, Accumulated Ozone exposure over a hourly Threshold of X ppb) and flux-based (PODY, Phytotoxic Ozone Dose over a hourly threshold Y nmol·m-2·s-1) O3 metrics was studied on three common urban trees, Fraxinus chinensis (FC), Platanus orientalis (PO) and Robinia pseudoacacia (RP). Parameterizations for a stomatal multiplicative model were proposed for the three species. RP was the species showing lower species-specific maximum stomatal conductance (gmax) and experiencing lower cumulative O3 uptake along the experiment, but in contrast it was the most sensitive to O3. PODY was slightly better than AOTX metric at estimating relative Asat (R-Asat)for PO and RB but not for FC. The best fittings obtained for the regressions between R-Asat and AOTX for FC, PO and RP were 0.904, 0.868, and 0.876, when the thresholds of X were 60ppb, 55ppb and 30ppb, respectively. However, AOT40 performed also well for all of them, with R2 always >0.83. For PODY, the highest R2 values for FC, PO and RB were 0.863, 0.897 and 0.911 at thresholds Y=7, 5 and 1nmolO3m-2s-1, respectively. Given the potentially higher O3 removal capacity of FC and PO by stomatal uptake and their lower sensitivity to this pollutant than RP, the former two species would be appropriate for urban gardens and areas where O3 levels are high. Parameterization and modeling of stomatal conductance for the main urban tree species may provide reliable estimations of the stomatal uptake of O3 and other gaseous pollutants by vegetation, which may support decision making on the most suitable species for green urban planning in polluted areas.

Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN. Publisher’s Note A first version of this text was prepared by the first eight authors and the last one, given here. The other listed co-authors in the article PDF support the content, and their actual contributions varied from only support to additions that substantially improved the content. The full details of all co-authors, with their affiliations, are included in Supplementary Table 1 after p.175 of the article for reasons of clarity and space. Slavomír Adamčík Institute of Botany, Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 23 Bratislava, Slovakia Teuvo Ahti Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland M. Catherine Aime Purdue University, 915 W. State St., West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, U.S.A. A. Martyn Ainsworth Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom László Albert Hungarian Mycological Society, 1087 Könyves Kálmán krt. 40, Budapest, Hungary Edgardo Albertó Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús, Universidad Nacional de San Martin-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina Alberto Altés García Facultad de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain Dmitry Ageev SIGNATEC Ltd., 630090, Novosibirsk, Akademgorodok (Novosibirsk Scientific Center), Inzhenernaya str., 22, Russia Reinhard Agerer Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Menzinger Str. 67, 80638 München, Germany Begona Aguirre-Hudson Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom Joe Ammirati University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1800, U.S.A. Harry Andersson Eichhahnweg 29a, 38108 Braunschweig, Germany Claudio Angelini Jardín Botánico Nacional Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso, Apartado 21-9, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Vladimír Antonín Moravian Museum, Zeny trh 6, 659 37 Brno, Czech Republic Takayuki Aoki Genetic Resources Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan André Aptroot ABL Herbarium, G.v.d.Veenstraat 107, 3762 XK Soest, The Netherlands Didier Argaud 40 rue du Justemont, 57290 Fameck, France Blanca Imelda Arguello Sosa Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Victoria, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico Arne Aronsen Torødveien 54, 3135 Torød, Norway Ulf Arup Biological Museum, Lund University, Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden Bita Asgari Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran Boris Assyov Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria Violeta Atienza Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universitat de València, C/Dr Moliner 50, 46100, Burjasot, Valencia, Spain Ditte Bandini Panoramastr 47, 69257 Wiesenbach, Germany João Luís Baptista-Ferreira Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal Hans-Otto Baral Blaihofstr. 42, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Tim Baroni The State University of New York, 340 Bowers Hall, P.O. Box 2000, Cortland, New York 13045, U.S.A. Robert Weingart Barreto Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil Henry Beker (1) Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom; (2) Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium Ann Bell 45 Gurney Road, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Jean-Michel Bellanger CEFE UMR5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, INSERM, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cédex 5, France Francesco Bellù Naturmusem of Bolzano, CP 104, 39100, Bolzano, Italy Martin Bemmann Kleingemünderstraße 111, 69118 Heidelberg, Germany Mika Bendiksby NTNU, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway Egil Bendiksen Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Gaustadalleen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway Katriina Bendiksen Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway Lajos Benedek Szent Istvan University, Hungary Anna Bérešová-Guttová Institute of Botany, Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 23 Bratislava, Slovakia Franz Berger University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria Reinhard Berndt Herbaria Z+ZT, ETH Zürich, CHN D37, Universitätstr. 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland Annarosa Bernicchia Via A. Guidotti 39, 40134 Bologna, Italy Alona Yu. Biketova Institute of Biochemistry, BRC-HAS, 6726 Szeged, Temesvari krt. 62, 6726 Szeged, Hungary Enrico Bizio Società Veneziana di Micologia, Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali, Fontego dei Turchi, Santa Croce 1730, 30135 Venice, Italy Curtis Bjork UBC Herbarium, Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia, Canada Teun Boekhout (1) Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands; (2) Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands David Boertmann Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark Tanja Böhning AG Geobotanik Schleswig-Holstein & Hamburg, c/o University of Kiel, Olshausenstraße 75, 24098 Kiel, Germany Florent Boittin Ascomycete.org, 36 rue de la Garde, 69005 Lyon, France Carlos G. Boluda Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève, 1292 Genève, Switzerland Menno W. Boomsluiter T.v.Lohuizenstraat 34, 8172xl, Vaassen, The Netherlands Jan Borovička Institute of Geology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Rozvojova 269, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic Tor Erik Brandrud Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Gaustadalleen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway Uwe Braun Martin-Luther-Universität, Institut für Biologie, Bereich Geobotanik, und Botanischer Garten, Herbarium, Neuwerk 21, 06099 Halle, Germany Irwin Brodo Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Tatiana Bulyonkova A.P. Ershov Institute of Informatics Systems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, 6 Acad. Lavrentjev pr., Novosibirsk 630090, Russia Harold H. Burdsall Jr. Fungal & Decay Diagnostics, LLC, 9350 Union Valley Road, Black Earth, Wisconsin 53515, U.S.A. Bart Buyck Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 39, ISYEB, UMR 7205 CNRS MNHN UPMC EPHE, 12 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France Ana Rosa Burgaz Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain Vicent Calatayud Fundación CEAM, c/ Charles R. Darwin, 14, Parque Tecnológico, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain Philippe Callac INRA, MycSA, CS 20032, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France Emanuele Campo Associazione Micologica Bresadola, Via Alessandro Volta 46, 38123 Trento, Italy Massimo Candusso Via Ottone Primo 90, 17021, Alassio, Savona, Italy Brigitte Capoen Queffioec, rue de Saint Gonval, 22710 Penvenan, France Joaquim Carbó Roser, 60, 17257 Torroella de Montgrí, Girona, Spain Matteo Carbone Via Don Luigi Sturzo 173 16148 Genova, Italy Rafael F. Castañeda-Ruiz Instituto de Investigaciones Fundamentales en Agricultura, Tropical ‘Alejandro de Humboldt’, OSDE, Grupo Agrícola, Calle 1 Esq. 2, Santiago de Las Vegas, C. Habana 17200, Cuba Michael A. Castellano USDA, Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon 97330, U.S.A. Jie Chen Mae Fah Luang University, Chang Wat Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand Philippe Clerc Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève, 1292 Genève, Switzerland Giovanni Consiglio Via C. Ronzani 61, 40033 Casalecchio Bologna, Italy Gilles Corriol National Botanical Conservatory for Pyrenees and Midi-Pyrénées Region of France and BBF Herbarium, Vallon de Salut. B.P. 315. 65203 Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France Régis Courtecuisse Université Lille, Fac. Pharma. Lille, EA4483 IMPECS, 59000 Lille, France Ana Crespo Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain Cathy Cripps Plant Sciences & Plant Pathology, 119 Plant Biosciences Building, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, U.S.A. Pedro W. Crous Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands Gladstone Alves da Silva Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Biociências, Avenida da Engenharia, S/N, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Meiriele da Silva Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil Marjo Dam Hooischelf 13, 6581 SL Malden, The Netherlands Nico Dam Hooischelf 13, 6581 SL Malden, The Netherlands Frank Dämmrich The Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB Munich), Menzinger Strasse 71, 80638, München, Germany Kanad Das Botanical Survey of India, Cryptogamic Unit, P.O. Botanic Garden, Howrah 711103, W.B., India Linda Davies Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom Eske De Crop Ghent University K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium Andre De Kesel Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium Ruben De Lange Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium Bárbara De Madrignac Bonzi Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste, Universidad Nacional de Nordeste-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Sargento Cabral 2131, CC 209, Corrientes Capital, Argentina Thomas Edison E. dela Cruz University of Santo Tomas, Espana 1008 Manila, Philippines Lynn Delgat Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium Vincent Demoulin Institut de Botanique, B.22, Université de Liège, 4000 Liège I, Belgium Dennis E. Desjardin HD Thiers Herbarium (SFSU), San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, California 94132, U.S.A. Paul Diederich Musée national d’histoire naturelle, 25 rue Münster, 2160 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Bálint Dima (1) Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary; (2) Viikki Plant Science Centre, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland Maria Martha Dios Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Catamarca, Av Belgrano 300, 4700 San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, Argentina Pradeep Kumar Divakar Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain Clovis Douanla-Meli Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for National and International Plant Health, Messeweg 11-12, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany Brian Douglas Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom Elisandro Ricardo Drechsler-Santos Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário Reitor João David Ferreira Lima, Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina CEP 88040-900, Brazil Paul S. Dyer School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom Ursula Eberhardt Abt. Botanik, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany Damien Ertz Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium Fernando Esteve-Raventós Facultad de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain Javier Angel Etayo Salazar Navarro Villoslada 16, 3º dcha., 31003 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Vera Evenson Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi, Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York Street, Denver, Colorado 80206, U.S.A. Guillaume Eyssartier Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Jardin des plantes, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France Edit Farkas Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary Alain Favre Fédération Mycologique et Botanique Dauphiné Savoie, Le Prieuré, 144 Place de l’Eglise, 74320 Sevrier, France Anna G. Fedosova Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Mario Filippa Regione Monsarinero 36, 14041 Agliano Terme, Italy Péter Finy 8000 Székesfehérvár, Zsombolyai u. 56, Hungary Adam Flakus W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Krakow, Poland Simón Fos Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universitat de València, C/Dr Moliner 50, 46100, Burjasot, Valencia, Spain Jacques Fournier Las Muros, F. 09420 Rimont, France André Fraiture Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium Paolo Franchi Associazione Micologica Bresadola, Via Alessandro Volta 46, 38123 Trento, Italy Ana Esperanza Franco Molano Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, AA1226, Fundación Biodiversa Colombia, Medellín, Colombia Gernot Friebes Centre of Natural History, Botany & Mycology, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Weinzöttlstraße 16, 8045 Graz, Austria Andreas Frisch NTNU, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway Alan Fryday Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, U.S.A. Giuliana Furci The Fungi Foundation, Paseo Bulnes 79 of. 112A, Santiago, Chile Ricardo Galán Márquez Facultad de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain Matteo Garbelotto University of California, 130 Mulford Hall #3114 Berkeley, California 94720, U.S.A. Joaquina Maria Garcia-Martin Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain Mónica A. García Otálora Herbaria Z+ZT, ETH Zürich, CHN D37, Universitätstr. 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland Dania García Sánchez Universitat Rovira i Virgili, C/ Sant Llorenç 21, 43201 Reus, Tarragona, Spain Alain Gardiennet 14 rue Roulette, 21260 Véronnes, France Sigisfredo Garnica Instituto de Bioquímica y Microbiología, Universidad Austral de Chile, Isla Teja Campus, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile Isaac Garrido Benavent Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain Genevieve Gates Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, Private Bag 54, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia Alice da Cruz Lima Gerlach Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la ville de Genève, Genève, Switzerland Masoomeh Ghobad-Nejhad Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 15815-3538, Tehran 15819, Iran Tatiana B. Gibertoni Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Biociências, Avenida da Engenharia, S/N, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Tine Grebenc Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vecna pot 2, 100 Ljubljana, Slovenia Irmgard Greilhuber University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria Bella Grishkan Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Aba Khoushi Ave. 199, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel Johannes Z. Groenewald Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands Martin Grube Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Holteiasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria Gérald Gruhn Office National des Forêts, 2 Avenue de Saint-Mandé, 75570 Paris Cedex 12, France Cécile Gueidan CSIRO — Australian National Herbarium, Clunies Ross Street, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia Gro Gulden Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway Luis FP Gusmão Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Av. Transnordestina, s/n, Bairro Novo Horizonte, CEP:44036-900, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil Josef Hafellner Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Holteiasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria Michel Hairaud 2 Impasse des Marronniers, 79360 Poivendre de Marigny, France Marek Halama Museum of Natural History, Wrocław University, ul. H. Sienkiewicza 5, 50-335 Wrocław, Poland Nils Hallenberg University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 40530 Göteborg, Sweden Roy E. Halling Institute of Systematic Botany, New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, New York 10458-5126, U.S.A. Karen Hansen Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden Christoffer Bugge Harder Texas Tech University, Box 42122, Lubbock, Texas 79409, U.S.A. Jacob Heilmann-Clausen Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 København, Denmark Stip Helleman Sweelinck 78, 5831KT Boxmeer, The Netherlands Alain Henriot Mycological Society of France, 20 rue Rottembourg, 12th arrondissement, Paris, France Margarita Hernandez-Restrepo Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands Raphaël Herve 24 rue des Fougères, 86550 Mignaloux-Beauvoir, France Caroline Hobart 84 Stafford Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S2 2SF, United Kingdom Mascha Hoffmeister Julius Kühn-Institut, Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Braunschweig, Germany Klaus Høiland University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1066, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway Jan Holec National Museum, Herbarium PRM, Cirkusová 1740, 193 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic Håkon Holien Faculty of Bioscience and Aquaculture, NORD University, P.O. Box 2501, 7729 Steinkjer, Norway Karen Hughes University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, U.S.A. Vit Hubka Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic Seppo Huhtinen Herbarium TUR, Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland Boris Ivančević Natural History Museum, Njegoševa 51, P.O. Box 401, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Marian Jagers Reelaan 13, 7522 LR Enschede, The Netherlands Walter Jaklitsch Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology and Forest Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria AnnaElise Jansen Stationsstraat 10, 6701 AM Wageningen, the Netherlands Ruvishika S. Jayawardena Mae Fah Luang University, Chang Wat Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand Thomas Stjernegaard Jeppesen Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 København Ø, Denmark Mikael Jeppson Lilla Håjumsgatan 4, 46135 Trollhättan, Sweden Peter Johnston Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland 1072, New Zealand Per Magnus Jørgensen University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, P.O. Box 7800, 5020 Bergen, Norway Ingvar Kärnefelt Biological Museum, Lund University, Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden Liudmila B. Kalinina Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Gintaras Kantvilas Tasmanian Herbarium (HO), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, P.O. Box 5058, UTAS LP.O., Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7005, Australia Mitko Karadelev Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Arhimedova 5, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Taiga Kasuya Faculty of Risk and Crisis Management, Chiba Institute of Science, 3 Shiomi-cho, Choshi, Chiba 288-0025, Japan Ivona Kautmanová Natural History Museum, Slovak National Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia Richard W. Kerrigan RWK Research, Kittanning, Pennsylvania 16201, U.S.A. Martin Kirchmair Institut für Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria Anna Kiyashko Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Dániel G. Knapp Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary Henning Knudsen Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 København, Denmark Kerry Knudsen Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Life Sciences at Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Tommy Knutsson Nedra Västerstad 111, 380 62 Mörbylånga, Sweden Miroslav Kolařík Institute of Microbiology ASCR, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic Urmas Kõljalg Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 40 Lai Street, Tartu 51005, Estonia Alica Košuthová Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden Attila Koszka Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Kaposvar University, 7400 Kaposvar, Hungary Heikki Kotiranta Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140, 00251 Helsinki, Finland Vera Kotkova Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Ondřej Koukol Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic Jiří Kout University of West Bohemia, Faculty of Education, Klatovska 51, 306 19 Pilsen, Czech Republic Gábor M. Kovács Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary Martin Kříž Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic Åsa Kruys Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden Viktor Kučera Institute of Botany, Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 23 Bratislava, Slovakia Linas Kudzma 37 Maple Ave. Annandale, New Jersey 08801, U.S.A. Francisco Kuhar Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina Martin Kukwa Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland T. K. Arun Kumar The Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode, Kerala 673014, India Vladimír Kunca Technical University in Zvolen, Ul. T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 53 Zvolen,Slovakia Ivana Kušan Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Thomas W. Kuyper Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands Carlos Lado Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain Thomas Læssøe Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 København, Denmark Patrice Lainé 123 rue Saint Antoine, 75004, Paris, France Ewald Langer University of Kassel, Heinrich-Plett-Strasse 40, 34132 Kassel, Germany Ellen Larsson University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 40530 Göteborg, Sweden Karl-Henrik Larsson Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway Gary Laursen Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7000, U.S.A. Christian Lechat Ascofrance, 64 route de Chizé, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France Serena Lee Herbarium Singapore Botanic Gardens, National Parks Board, Singapore James C. Lendemer (1) Institute of Systematic Botany, New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, New York 10458-5126, U.S.A.; (2) Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Ave, New York, New York 10016, U.S.A. Laura Levin University of Buenos Aires, Junin 956, 1113, Buenos Aires, Argentina Uwe Lindemann Landesmuseum für Naturkunde, Münster, Germany Håkan Lindström Östansjö 150, 840 64 Kälarne, Sweden Xingzhong Liu Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No 3 Park 1, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China Regulo Carlos Llarena Hernandez Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Peñuela, Universidad Veracruzana, Amatlán de los Reyes, Ver., Mexico Esteve Llop Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Csaba Locsmándi Hungarian Natural History Museum, 1087 Budapest, Hungary Deborah Jean Lodge USDA Forest Service, NRS, P.O. Box 1377, Luquillo, Puerto Rico 00773-1377, U.S.A. Michael Loizides P.O. Box 58499, 3734 Limassol, Cyprus László Lőkös Hungarian Natural History Museum, 1087 Budapest, Hungary Jennifer Luangsa-ard National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), NSTDA, 113 Thailand Science Park, Phaholyothin Rd., Klong Nueng, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand Matthias Lüderitz AG Geobotanik Schleswig-Holstein & Hamburg, c/o University of Kiel, Olshausenstraße 75, 24098 Kiel, Germany Thorsten Lumbsch Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, Illinois 60605, U.S.A. Matthias Lutz Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 5, 72076 Tübingen, Germany Dan Mahoney Callaghan Innovation, 69 Gracefield Road, Lower Hutt 5010, New Zealand Ekaterina Malysheva Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Vera Malysheva Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Patinjareveettil Manimohan University of Calicut, Kerala, 673 635, India Yasmina Marin-Felix Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD, Utrecht, The Netherlands Guilhermina Marques Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Laboratory of Mycology and Soil Microbiology, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal Rubén Martínez-Gil Ascomycete.org, 36 rue de la Garde, 69005 Lyon, France Guy Marson Musée national d’histoire naturelle, 25 rue Münster, 2160 Luxembourg, Luxembourg Gerardo Mata Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico P. Brandon Matheny University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, U.S.A. Geir Harald Mathiassen Tromsø University Museum, University of Tromsø — The Arctic University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway Neven Matočec Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Helmut Mayrhofer Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Holteiasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria Mehdi Mehrabi Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran Ireneia Melo Botanical Garden, National Museum of Natural History and Science, University of Lisbon, Portugal Armin Mešić Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Andrew S. Methven Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia 31404, U.S.A Otto Miettinen Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Ana M. Millanes Romero Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain Andrew N. Miller Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820-6970, U.S.A. James K. Mitchell Harvard University, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A. Roland Moberg Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden Pierre-Arthur Moreau Université Lille, Fac. Pharma. Lille, EA4483 IMPECS, 59000 Lille, France Gabriel Moreno Facultad de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain Olga Morozova Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Asunción Morte Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Lucia Muggia University of Trieste, via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy Guillermo Muñoz González Avda Valvanera N.32, 5D, 26500 Calahorra, La Rioja, Spain Leena Myllys Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland István Nagy Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary László G. Nagy Institute of Biochemistry, BRC-HAS, 6726 Szeged, Temesvari krt. 62, 6726 Szeged, Hungary Maria Alice Neves Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário Reitor João David Ferreira Lima, Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina CEP 88040-900, Brazil Tuomo Niemelä Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Pier Luigi Nimis University of Trieste, via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy Nicolas Niveiro Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste, Universidad Nacional de Nordeste-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Sargento Cabral 2131, CC 209, Corrientes Capital, Argentina Machiel E. Noordeloos Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands Anders Nordin Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden Sara Raouia Noumeur Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University of Batna 2, 05000 Batna, Algeria Yuri Novozhilov Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Jorinde Nuytinck Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands Esteri Ohenoja Botanical Museum, University of Oulu, Finland Patricia Oliveira Fiuza Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Av. Transnordestina, s/n, Bairro Novo Horizonte, CEP:44036-900, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil Alan Orange National Museum of Wales, Cardiff CF10 3NP, United Kingdom Alexander Ordynets University of Kassel, Heinrich-Plett-Strasse 40, 34132 Kassel, Germany Beatriz Ortiz-Santana USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, One Gifford Pinchot Dr, Madison, Wisconsin 53726, U.S.A. Leticia Pacheco Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Av. San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, 09340 México, D. F., Mexico Ferenc Pál-Fám Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Kaposvar University, 7400 Kaposvar, Hungary Melissa Palacio Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Zdeněk Palice Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic Viktor Papp Szent Istvan University, 1118 Budapest, Menesi st. 44, Hungary Kadri Pärtelv Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 40 Lai Street, Tartu 51005, Estonia Julia Pawlowska Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland Aurelia Paz Urb. La Llosa, 219, 39509 Villanueva de la Peña, Mazcuerras, Cantabria, Spain Ursula Peintner Institut für Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria Shaun Pennycook Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland 1072, New Zealand Olinto Liparini Pereira Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil Pablo Pérez Daniëls University of Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain Miquel À. Pérez-De-Gregorio Capella C/ Pau Casals, 6, 1º, 1ª, 17001, Girona, Spain Carlos Manuel Pérez del Amo C/ Luis de Ulloa, 1, 7º I, 26004 Logroño, Navarra, Spain Sergio Pérez Gorjón Universidad de Salamanca, Avda. Licenciado Mendez Nieto s/n, 37007 Salamanca, Spain Sergio Pérez-Ortega Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain Israel Pérez-Vargas Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de La Laguna, c/ Astrofísico Sánchez s/n 38071 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain Brian A. Perry California State University East Bay, Hayward, California 94542, U.S.A. Jens H. Petersen Nøruplundvej 2, 8400 Ebeltoft, Denmark Ronald H. Petersen University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, U.S.A. Donald H. Pfister Harvard University, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, U.S.A. Chayanard Phukhamsakda Mae Fah Luang University, Chang Wat Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand Marcin Piątek W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Krakow, Poland Meike Piepenbring Faculty of Biosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany Raquel Pino-Bodas Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain Juan Pablo Pinzón Esquivel Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Carretera Mérida-Xmatkuil Km. 15.5, Apdo. Postal: 4-116 Itzimná,C.P: 97100, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Paul Pirot Rue des Peupliers 10, 6840 Neufchâteau, Belgium Eugene S. Popov Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Orlando Popoff Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste, Universidad Nacional de Nordeste-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Sargento Cabral 2131, CC 209, Corrientes Capital, Argentina María Prieto Álvaro Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain Christian Printzen Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Abteilung Botanik und Molekulare Evolutionsforschung, Herbarium Senckenbergianum (FR), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Nadezhda Psurtseva Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Witoon Purahong Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH — UFZ, Theodor-Lieser-Straße 4, 06120 Halle, Germany Luis Quijada Harvard University, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A. Gerhard Rambold University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany Natalia A. Ramírez Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste, Universidad Nacional de Nordeste-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Sargento Cabral 2131, CC 209, Corrientes Capital, Argentina Huzefa Raja University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 435 Sullivan Science Building, PO Box 26170, Greensboro North Carolina 27402-6170, U.S.A. Olivier Raspé Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium Tania Raymundo Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n, Miguel Hidalgo, Santo Tomás, 11340 Ciudad de México, Mexico Martina Réblová Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Pruhonice, Czech Republic Yury A. Rebriev Southern Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 41 Chehova str., Rostov-on-Don, 344006, Russia Juan de Dios Reyes García Paseo Virgen de Linarejos 6 2 D, Linares, Jaen, Spain Miguel Ángel Ribes Ripoll Avda. Pablo Neruda 120 F, 2°D, 28018 Madrid, Spain Franck Richard CEFE UMR5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, INSERM, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cédex 5, France Mike J. Richardson Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, United Kingdom Víctor J. Rico Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain Gerardo Lucio Robledo Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina Flavia Rodrigues Barbosa Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Alexandre Ferronato, 1200, Setor Industrial, Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil Cristina Rodriguez-Caycedo UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, U.S.A. Pamela Rodriguez-Flakus W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Krakow, Poland Anna Ronikier W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Krakow, Poland Luis Rubio Casas Ul. Andrieja Sacharowa 1/1, 30-806 Kraków, Poland Katerina Rusevska Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Arhimedova 5, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Günter Saar Dammenmühle 7, 77933 Lahr-Sulz, Germany Irja Saar Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 40 Lai Street, Tartu 51005, Estonia Isabel Salcedo University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Apdo 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain Sergio M. Salcedo Martínez Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, UANL. Ave. Pedro de Alba s/n esq. Manuel Barragán Cd. Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza Nuevo León, CP. 66451, Mexico Carlos A. Salvador Montoya Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste, Universidad Nacional de Nordeste-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Sargento Cabral 2131, CC 209, Corrientes Capital, Argentina Santiago Sánchez-Ramírez University of Toronto, 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada J. Vladimir Sandoval-Sierra Health Science Centre, University of Tennessee, U.S.A. Sergi Santamaria Facultat de Biociències, Edifici C, Despatx C1/331, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain Josiane Santana Monteiro Botany Coordination, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, 66077-830, Belém, Pará, Brazil Hans Josef Schroers Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ulica 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Barbara Schulz Institute of Microbiology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany Geert Schmidt-Stohn Burgstr. 25, 29553 Bienenbüttel, Germany Trond Schumacher University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1066, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway Beatrice Senn-Irlet RU Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland Hana Ševčíková Moravian Museum, Zeny trh 6, 659 37 Brno, Czech Republic Oleg Shchepin Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Takashi Shirouzu Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurima-machiya, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan Anton Shiryaev Institute of Plant & Animal Ecology Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144 Ekaterinburg, 8 March str., 202/3, Russia Klaus Siepe Geeste 133, 46342 Velen, Germany Esteban B. Sir Fundación Miguel Lillo, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Miguel Lillo 251, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Tucumán, Argentina Mohammad Sohrabi Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 33535111, Tehran, Iran Karl Soop Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden Viacheslav Spirin Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Toby Spribille University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada Marc Stadler Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstrasse 7, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany Joost Stalpers Torenlaan 43, 3742CR Baarn, The Netherlands Soili Stenroos Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Ave Suija Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 40 Lai Street, Tartu 51005, Estonia Stellan Sunhede Hökaskog Sandbacken 1, 533 92 Lundsbrunn, Sweden Sten Svantesson University of Gothenburg, Box 461, 40530 Göteborg, Sweden Sigvard Svensson Biological Museum, Lund University, Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden Tatyana Yu. Svetasheva (1) Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia; (2) Department of Technologies of Living Systems, Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University, Lenin ave. 125, Tula, 300026, Russia Krzysztof Świerkosz Museum of Natural History, Wrocław University, ul. H. Sienkiewicza 5, 50-335 Wrocław, Poland Heidi Tamm Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, 40 Lai Street, Tartu 51005, Estonia Hatira Taskin Faculty of Agriculture, University of Çukurova, 01330 Adana, Turkey Adrien Taudière CEFE UMR5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, INSERM, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cédex 5, France Jan-Olof Tedebrand Sundsvall Mycological Society, Medelpad, Sweden Raúl Tena Lahoz C/Arreñales del Portillo B 21 1°D, 44003 Teruel, Spain Marina Temina Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Aba Khoushi Ave. 199, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel Arne Thell Biological Museum, Lund University, Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden Marco Thines Faculty of Biosciences, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany Göran Thor Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P. O. Box 7044, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden Holger Thüs State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany Leif Tibell Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18D, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden Sanja Tibell Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18D, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden Einar Timdal Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway Zdenko Tkalčec Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Tor Tønsberg University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, P.O. Box 7800, 5020 Bergen, Norway Gérard Trichies 5, impasse des Écoles S7700 Neufchef, France Dagmar Triebel Botanische Staatssammlung München, Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München, Germany Andrei Tsurykau (1) F. Skorina Gomel State University, Sovetskaja Str. 104, 246019 Gomel, Belarus; (2) Institute of Natural Sciences, Samara National Research University, Moskovskoye shosse 34, 443086 Samara, Russia Rodham E. Tulloss Herbarium Amanitarum Rooseveltensis, P. O. Box 57, Roosevelt, New Jersey 08555-0057, U.S.A. Veera Tuovinen University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3, Canada Miguel Ulloa Sosa Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tercer Circuito/Sin Número, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, C. P. 04510, Mexico Carlos Urcelay Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina François Valade 11 rue haras, le boqueteau, 91240 Saint-Michel-sur-Orge, France Ricardo Valenzuela Garza Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n, Miguel Hidalgo, Santo Tomás, 11340 Ciudad de México, Mexico Pieter van den Boom Arafura 16, 5691 JA Son, The Netherlands Nicolas Van Vooren Ascomycete.org, 36 rue de la Garde, 69005 Lyon, France Aida M. Vasco-Palacios Escuela de Microbiología, Universidad de Antioquia, AA1226, Fundación Biodiversa Colombia, Medellín, Colombia Jukka Vauras Herbarium TUR, Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland Juan Manuel Velasco Santos 3 C/Pontevedra, 18, 1º C, 37003 Salamanca, Spain Else Vellinga 861 Keeler Avenue, Berkeley, California 94708, U.S.A. Annemieke Verbeken Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium Per Vetlesen Norges Sopp- og Nyttevekstforbund, Schweigaards gate 34F, 0191 Oslo, Norway Alfredo Vizzini University of Torino, Viale P.A. Mattioli 25, 10125, Torino, Italy Hermann Voglmayr University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria Sergey Volobuev Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia Wolfgang von Brackel Kirchenweg 2, 91341 Röttenbach, Germany Elena Voronina Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biology Faculty, Moscow, Russia Grit Walther Arvid-Harnack-Str. 4, 07743 Jena, Germany Roy Watling Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, United Kingdom Evi Weber Blaihofstr. 42, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Mats Wedin Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden Øyvind Weholt Nord University, Nesna, 8700 Nesna, Norway Martin Westberg Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden Eugene Yurchenko Polessky State University, Dnyaprouskai flatylii str. 23, 225710, Pinsk, Belarus Petr Zehnálek Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic Huang Zhang Kunming University of Science & Technology, Kunming, China Mikhail P. Zhurbenko Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia The following institutions are also supporting the present text (institutional support means that committees from the mentioned) Asociación Micológica Carlos Spegazzini (Argentina) Austrian Mycological Society (Austria) Croatian Mycological Society (Croatia) Committee of the Czech Scientific Society for Mycology (Czech Republic) The Netherlands Mycological Society (The Netherlands) Sociedad Española de Liquenología (Portugal/Spain) Iberian Mycological Society (which is under constitution, Portugal/Spain) Federación de Asociaciones Micológicas Andaluzas (FAMA) (Spain) Asociación Botánica y Micológica de Jaén (Spain) Asociación Micológica Hispalense Muscaria (Spain) Societat Micològica Valenciana (Spain)

Tropospheric ozone (O

Ground-level ozone (O3) is an important phytotoxic air pollutant in China. In order to compare the sensitivity of common poplar clones to O3 in China and explore the possible mechanism, five poplar clones, clone DQ (Populus cathayana), clone 84 K (P. alba × P. glandulosa), clone WQ156 (P. deltoids × P. cathayana), clone 546 (P. deltoides cv. ‘55/56’ × P. deltoides cv. ‘Imperial’) and clone 107 (P. euramericana cv. ‘74/76’) were exposed to four O3 treatments. According to the date of the initial visible O3 symptom and the slopes of O3 exposure-response relationships with the relative light-saturated rate of CO2 assimilation, we found that clone DQ and clone 546 were the most sensitive to O3, clone 84 K and clone WQ156 were the less sensitive, and clone 107 was the most tolerant, which could provide a basis to select O3 tolerant clones for poplar planting at areas with serious O3 pollution. Elevated O3 significantly reduced photosynthetic parameters, total phenols content, potential antioxidant capacity, leaf mass per area and biomass of five poplar clones, and there were significant interactions between O3 and clones for most photosynthetic parameters. Elevated O3 also significantly increased malondialdehyde content and total ascorbate content. The responses of total antioxidant capacity for poplar clones to elevated O3 were different, as indicated by the increase for clone 107 and reduction for other clones under elevated O3 treatment. Our results on the sensitivity of different poplar clones to O3 are not related to leaf stomatal conductance, leaf constitutive antioxidant levels or leaf morphology of plant grown in clean air. The possible reason is little difference in leaf traits among clones within close species, suggesting that more properties of plants should be considered for exploring the sensitivity mechanism of close species, such as mesophyll conductance, antioxidant enzyme activity and apoplastic antioxidants.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the global ambient O3 concentration has more than doubled. Negative impact of O3 on some common crops such as wheat and soybeans has been widely recognized, but there is relatively little information about maize, the typical C4 plant and third most important crop worldwide. To partly compensate this knowledge gap, the maize cultivar (Zhengdan 958, ZD958) with maximum planting area in China was exposed to a range of chronic ozone (O3) exposures in open top chambers (OTCs). The O3 effects on this highly important crop were estimated in relation to two O3 metrics, AOT40 (accumulated hourly O3 concentration over a threshold of 40 ppb during daylight hours) and POD6 (Phytotoxic O3 Dose above a threshold flux of 6 nmol O3 m−2 s−1 during a specified period). We found that (1) the reduced light-saturated net photosynthetic rate (Asat) mainly caused by non-stomatal limitations across heading and grain filling stages, but the stomatal limitations at the former stage were stronger than those at the latter stage; (2) impact of O3 on water use efficiency (WUE) of maize was significantly dependent on developmental stage; (3) yield loss induced by O3 was mainly due to a reduction in kernels weight rather than in the number of kernels; (4) the performance of AOT40 and POD6 was similar, according to their determination coefficients (R2); (5) the order of O3 sensitivity among different parameters was photosynthetic parameters > biomass parameters > yield-related parameters; (6) Responses of Asat to O3 between heading and gran filling stages were significantly different based on AOT40 metric, but not POD6. The proposed O3 metrics-response relationships will be valuable for O3 risk assessment in Asia and also for crop productivity models including the influence of O3.

Evaluations of ozone effects on vegetation across the globe over the last seven decades have mostly incorporated exposure levels that were multi-fold the preindustrial concentrations. As such, global risk assessments and derivation of critical levels for protecting plants and food supplies were based on extrapolation from high to low exposure levels. These were developed in an era when it was thought that stress biology is framed around a linear dose-response. However, it has recently emerged that stress biology commonly displays non-linear, hormetic processes. The current biological understanding highlights that the strategy of extrapolating from high to low exposure levels may lead to biased estimates. Here, we analyzed a diverse sample of published empirical data of approximately 500 stimulatory, hormetic-like dose-responses induced by ozone in plants. The median value of the maximum stimulatory responses induced by elevated ozone was 124%, and commonly

Wheat yield loss due to ambient ozone (O-3) and the associated economic losses in China were evaluated for years 2015 and 2016 using for the first time measured O-3 concentration ([O-3]) and meteorological data as well as phenological observations. Relative yield losses (RYL) were estimated using response functions based on both O-3 exposure and flux metrics: AOT40 (the accumulated hourly [O-3] over a threshold of 40 ppb) and POD12 (Phytotoxic Ozone Dose over a threshold of 12 nmol O-3 m(-2)s(-1)). Both metrics showed consistent spatial patterns being highest in the North China Plain, the largest wheat-producing area in China, followed by some provinces in Yangtze River region. The higher stomatal conductance in areas with high [O-3] in year 2015 contributed to higher POD12 values than in 2016. The RYLs for the whole China estimated with AOT40 were 17.1% and 18.1% for years 2015 and 2016, respectively, whereas those with POD12 were lower, 10.6% and 10.2%, respectively. Wheat production losses as translated to annual economic losses were 10 304 and 10 745 million USD (AOT40) or 5912 and 5554 million USD (POD12), for 2015 and 2016, respectively. The O-3 impact estimated with monitoring data suggests its overestimation by some of the previous studies based on model estimates of surface [O-3]. The overestimation could be attributed to the uncertainties in estimating meteorological variables and [O-3], particularly the omission of the correction for the vertical gradient of [O-3] near crop canopy in some studies.Previous simulation studies have overestimated the yield loss of winter wheat by ozone.

The combined effects of ozone (O3 ) and drought on isoprene emission were studied for the first time. Young hybrid poplars (clone 546, Populus deltoides cv. 55/56 x P. deltoides cv. Imperial) were exposed to O3 (charcoal-filtered air, CF, and non-filtered air +40 ppb, E-O3 ) and soil water stress (well-watered, WW, and mild drought, MD, one-third irrigation) for 96 days. Consistent with light-saturated photosynthesis (Asat ), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci ) and chlorophyll content, isoprene emission depended on drought, O3 , leaf position and sampling time. Drought stimulated emission (+38.4%), and O3 decreased it (-40.4%). Ozone increased the carbon cost per unit of isoprene emission. Ozone and drought effects were stronger in middle leaves (13th-15th from the apex) than in upper leaves (6th-8th). Only Asat showed a significant interaction between O3 and drought. When the responses were up-scaled to the entire-plant level, however, drought effects on total leaf area translated into around twice higher emission from WW plants in clean air than in E-O3 . Our results suggest that direct effects on plant emission rates and changes in total leaf area may affect isoprene emission from intensively cultivated hybrid poplar under combined MD and O3 exposure, with important feedbacks for air quality.

Fast urbanization has led to ozone (O3) being the main pollutant in summer in most of China. To assess future ground-level O3 effects on the service of urban greening species and clarify the underlying mechanism of O3 damage, four common urban greening species, Ailanthus altissima (AA), Fraxinus chinensis(FC), Platanus orientalis (PO) and Robinia pseudoacacia (RP) were exposed to non-filtered air (NF) and to elevated O3 (E-O3) in open-top chambers. E-O3 induced visible injury in all species as well as microscopic alterations such as collapse of the palisade parenchyma cells, callose accumulation, or chloroplast and mitochondrial accelerated senescence. E-O3 significantly reduced light-saturated CO2 assimilation (Asat),the maximum activity of Rubisco (Vcmax), the maximum electron transport rate (Jmax), and fluorescence parameters such as the quantum yield of noncyclic electron transport (�PSII), and the quenching of photochemical efficiency of PSII (qP). It also increased total antioxidant capacity, phenolics and ascorbate contents. No significant interaction between O3and species was found in photosynthetic performance and antioxidant systems, suggesting that the four species selected were sensitive to O3. Of all four species,AA was the most sensitive species due to a combination of earlier injury onset, anatomical features, lower antioxidant responses and higher stomatal conductance. The sensitivity of tree species to O3 is a factor to be considered for urban greening. Ozone may affect important urban forest ecosystem services by reducing CO2 assimilation, This study has been funded by the Hundred Talents Program, Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology. Collaboration between RCEES and Fundacion CEAM has been possible thanks to project AMIS (Fate and Impact of Atmospheric Pollutants, PIRSES-GA-2011-295132), and by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorships for Senior International Scientists (grant number: 2013T2Z0009). VC also acknowledges the support of PROMETEOII/2014/038 project (Generalitat Valenciana, G.V.), and FGB and JRA that of PROMETEOII2013/021 (G.V.), and CGL2012-40058-C02-01/02 (MINECO). We thank Mr. Yulong Zhang for the experimental management.

The effect of lockdown due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on air pollution in four Southern European cities (Nice, Rome, Valencia and Turin) and Wuhan (China) was quantified, with a focus on ozone (O3). Compared to the same period in 2017–2019, the daily O3 mean concentrations increased at urban stations by 24% in Nice, 14% in Rome, 27% in Turin, 2.4% in Valencia and 36% in Wuhan during the lockdown in 2020. This increase in O3 concentrations is mainly explained by an unprecedented reduction in NOx emissions leading to a lower O3 titration by NO. Strong reductions in NO2 mean concentrations were observed in all European cities, ~53% at urban stations, comparable to Wuhan (57%), and ~65% at traffic stations. NO declined even further, ~63% at urban stations and ~78% at traffic stations in Europe. Reductions in PM2.5 and PM10 at urban stations were overall much smaller both in magnitude and relative change in Europe (~8%) than in Wuhan (~42%). The PM reductions due to limiting transportation and fuel combustion in institutional and commercial buildings were partly offset by increases of PM emissions from the activities at home in some of the cities. The NOx concentrations during the lockdown were on average 49% lower than those at weekends of the previous years in all cities. The lockdown effect on O3 production was ~10% higher than the weekend effect in Southern Europe and 38% higher in Wuhan, while for PM the lockdown had the same effect as weekends in Southern Europe (~6% of difference). This study highlights the challenge of reducing the formation of secondary pollutants such as O3 even with strict measures to control primary pollutant emissions. These results are relevant for designing abatement policies of urban pollution., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Air quality during the COVID-19 lockdown in 4 European and 1 Chinese cities • The lockdown caused a substantial reduction in NOx in all cities (~ 56%) • Reductions in PM were much higher in Wuhan (~ 42%) than in Europe (~ 8%) • The lockdown caused an ozone increase in all cities (17% in Europe, 36% in Wuhan) • The lockdown effect on O3 production was higher than the weekend effect

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a pollutant of widespread concern in the world and especially in China for its negative effects on agricultural crops. For the first time, yield and economic losses of wheat between 2014 and 2017 were estimated for the North China Plain (NCP) using observational hourly O3 data from 312 monitoring stations and exposure-response functions based on AOT40 index (accumulated hourly O3 concentration above 40 ppb) from a Chinese study. AOT40 values from 2014 to 2017 during the wheat growing seasons (75-days, 44 before and 30 after mid-anthesis) ranged from 3.1 to 14.9 ppm h, 4.9–17.5 ppm h, 7.3–17.6 ppm h, and 0.5–18.6 ppm h, respectively. The highest AOT40 values were observed in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The values of relative yield losses from 2014 to 2017 were in the ranges of 6.4–30.5%, 10.0–35.8%, 14.9–34.1%, and 21.6–38.2%, respectively. The total wheat production losses in NCP for 2014–2017 accounted for 18.5%, 22.7%, 26.2% and 30.8% in the whole production, while the economic losses amounted to 6,292 million USD, 8,524 million USD, 10,068 million USD, and 12,404 million USD, respectively. The important impact of O3 in this area, which is of global importance, should be considered when assessing wheat yield production. Our results also show an increasing trend in AOT40, relative yield loss, total crop production loss and economic loss in the four consecutive years.

The effects of current and future elevated O3 concentrations (e[O3]) were investigated by a meta-analysis for poplar, a widely distributed genus in the Northern Hemisphere with global economic importance. Current [O3] has significantly reduced CO2 assimilation rate (Pn) by 33% and total biomass by 4% in comparison with low O3 level (charcoal-filtered air, CF). Relative to CF, an increase in future [O3] would further enhance the reduction in total biomass by 24%, plant height by 17% and plant leaf area by 19%. Isoprene emissions could decline by 34% under e[O3], with feedback implications in reducing the formation of secondary air pollutants including O3. Reduced stomatal conductance and lower foliar area might increase runoff and freshwater availability in O3 polluted areas. Higher cumulated O3 exposure over a threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40) induced larger reductions in Pn, total biomass and isoprene emission. Relationships of light-saturated photosynthesis rates (Asat), total biomass and chlorophyll content with AOT40 using a global dataset are provided. These relationships are expected to improve O3 risk assessment and also to support the inclusion of the effect of O3 in models addressing plantation productivity and carbon sink capacity.

Skin affections after sulfur mustard (SM) exposure include erythema, blister formation and severe inflammation. An antidote or specific therapy does not exist. Anti-inflammatory compounds as well as substances counteracting SM-induced cell death are under investigation. In this study, we investigated the benzylisoquinoline alkaloide berberine (BER), a metabolite in plants like berberis vulgaris, which is used as herbal pharmaceutical in Asian countries, against SM toxicity using a well-established in vitro approach. Keratinocyte (HaCaT) mono-cultures (MoC) or HaCaT/THP-1 co-cultures (CoC) were challenged with 100, 200 or 300 mM SM for 1 h. Post-exposure, both MoC and CoC were treated with 10, 30 or 50 mu M BER for 24 h. At that time, supernatants were collected and analyzed both for interleukine (IL) 6 and 8 levels and for content of adenylate-kinase (AK) as surrogate marker for cell necrosis. Cells were lysed and nucleosome formation as marker for late apoptosis was assessed. In parallel, AK in cells was determined for normalization purposes. BER treatment did not influence necrosis, but significantly decreased apoptosis. Anti-inflammatory effects were moderate, but also significant, primarily in CoC. Overall, BER has protective effects against SM toxicity in vitro. Whether this holds true should be evaluated in future in vivo studies.

Four genotypes of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were selected to study the effects of ambient ozone concentration at a cropland area around Beijing by using 450 ppm of ethylenediurea (EDU) as a chemical protectant. During the growing season, the 8 h (9:00–17:00) average ozone concentration was very high, approximately 71.3 ppb, and AOT40 was 29.0 ppm.h. All genotypes showed foliar injury, but ozone-sensitive genotypes exhibited much more injury than ozone-tolerant ones. Compared with control, EDU significantly alleviated foliar injury, increased photosynthesis rate and chlorophyll a fluorescence, Vcmax and Jmax, and seed and pod weights in ozone-sensitive genotypes but not in ozone-tolerant genotypes. EDU did not significantly affect antioxidant contents in any of the genotypes. Therefore, EDU effectively protected sensitive genotypes from ambient ozone damage, while protection on ozone-tolerant genotypes was limited. EDU can be regarded as a useful tool in risk assessment of ambient ozone on food security.

The relationships of CO

Ground-level ozone (O3) concentrations and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition rates have increased strongly since the 1950s. Rising ground-level O3 concentrations and atmospheric N deposition both affect plant physiology and growth, however, impacts have often been studied in isolation rather than in combination. In addition, studies are often limited to a control treatment and one or two elevated levels of ozone and/or nitrogen supply. In the current study, three-year old Betula pendula saplings were exposed to seven different O3 profiles (24 h mean O3 concentration of 36–68 ppb in 2013, with peaks up to an average of 105 ppb) in precision-controlled hemispherical glasshouses (solardomes) and four different N loads (10, 30, 50 or 70 kg N ha−1 y−1) in 2012 and 2013. Here we report on the effects of enhanced O3 concentrations and N load on leaf traits and gas exchange in leaves of varying age and developmental stage in 2013. The response of leaf traits to O3 (but not N) vary with leaf developmental stage. For example, elevated O3 did not affect the chlorophyll content of the youngest fully expanded leaf, but it reduced the chlorophyll content and photosynthetic parameters in aging leaves, relatively more so later than earlier in the growing season. Elevated O3 enhanced the N content of senesced leaves prior to leaf fall, potentially affecting subsequent N cycling in the soil. Enhanced N generally stimulated the chlorophyll content and photosynthetic capacity. Whilst elevated O3 reduced the light-saturated rate of photosynthesis (Asat) in aging leaves, it did not affect stomatal conductance (gs). This suggests that photosynthesis and gs are not closely coupled at elevated O3 under-light saturating conditions. We did not observe any interactions between O3 and N regarding photosynthetic parameters (Vc,max, Jmax, Asat), chlorophyll content, gs, N content in senesced leaves and leaf number. Hence, the sensitivity of these leaf traits to O3 in young silver birch trees is neither reduced nor enhanced by N load.

Poplar clones 546 (P. deltoides cv. '55/56'×P. deltoides cv. 'Imperial') and 107 (P. euramericana cv. '74/76') were exposed to five ozone concentrations in 15 open-top chambers (OTCs). Both ozone exposure (AOT40, Accumulation Over a Threshold hourly ozone concentration of 40ppb) and flux-based (POD7, Phytotoxic Ozone Dose above an hourly flux threshold of 7nmol O3 m-2 PLA (projected leaf area) s-1) response relationships were established with photosynthesis, leaf morphology and biomass variables. Increases in both metrics showed significant negative relationships with light-saturated photosynthesis rate, chlorophyll content, leaf mass per area, actual photochemical efficiency of PSII in the light and root biomass but not with stomatal conductance (gs), leaf and stem biomass. Ozone had a greater impact on belowground than on aboveground biomass. The ranking of these indicators from higher to lower sensitivity to ozone was: photosynthetic parameters, morphological index, and biomass. Clone 546 had a higher sensitivity to ozone than clone 107. The coefficients of determination (R2) were similar between exposure- and flux-based dose-response relationships for each variable. The critical levels (CLs) for a 5% reduction in total biomass for the two poplar clones were 14.8ppmh for AOT40 and 9.8mmol O3 m-2 PLA for POD7. In comparison, equivalent reduction occurred at much lower values in photosynthetic parameters (4ppmh for AOT40 and 3mmol O3 m-2 PLA for POD7) and LMA (5.8ppmh for AOT40 and 4mmol O3 m-2 PLA for POD7). While in recent decades different CLs have been proposed for several plant receptors especially in Europe, studies focusing on both flux-based dose-response relationships and CLs are still scarce in Asia. This study is therefore valuable for regional O3 risk assessment in Asia.

Despite the high ozone levels measured in China, and in Beijing in particular, reports of ozone-induced visible injury in vegetation are very scarce. Visible injury was investigated on July and August 2013 in the main parks, forest and agricultural areas of Beijing. Ozone injury was widespread in the area, being observed in 28 different species. Symptoms were more frequent in rural areas and mountains from northern Beijing, downwind from the city, and less frequent in city gardens. Among crops, injury to different types of beans (genera Phaseolus, Canavalia and Vigna) was common, and it was also observed in watermelon, grape vine, and in gourds. Native species such as ailanthus, several pines and ash species were also symptomatic. The black locust, the rose of Sharon and the Japanese morning glory were among the injured ornamental plants. Target species for broader bio-monitoring surveys in temperate China have been identified.

Seven experiments carried out in Italy and Spain have been used to parameterising a stomatal conductance model and establishing exposure- and dose-response relationships for yield and quality of tomato with the main goal of setting O3 critical levels (CLe). CLe with confidence intervals, between brackets, were set at an accumulated hourly O3 exposure over 40 nl l(-1), AOT40 = 8.4 (1.2, 15.6) ppm h and a phytotoxic ozone dose above a threshold of 6 nmol m(-2) s(-1), POD6 = 2.7 (0.8, 4.6) mmol m(-2) for yield and AOT40 = 18.7 (8.5, 28.8) ppm h and POD6 = 4.1 (2.0, 6.2) mmol m(-2) for quality, both indices performing equally well. CLe confidence intervals provide information on the quality of the dataset and should be included in future calculations of O3 CLe for improving current methodologies. These CLe, derived for sensitive tomato cultivars, should not be applied for quantifying O3-induced losses at the risk of making important overestimations of the economical losses associated with O3 pollution.

Lichens are considered to be among the most sensitive organisms for several types of pollutants. In this work, we analyzed a dataset of 286 epiphytic lichen species observed on 1155 trees at 83 ForestBIOTA plots, which is a subsample of approx. 500 plots of the European ICP Forests Level II network. We aimed at examining the amount of nitrogen deposition for which a significant variation of the relative diversity of morpho-functional groups of epiphytic lichens in the sampled plots is expected. Moreover, the study aimed at determining how much variance of these diversity variables could be explained by nitrogen depositions only. We used correlation and multiple regression models as well as hierarchical partitioning to evaluate the relative importance of environmental predictors in explaining variation in lichen diversity descriptors. The analysis splits the variation explained by each variable into a joint effect together with the other explanatory variables, and into an independent effect not shared with any other variable. The percentage of macrolichens in the plots was shown to be the most important indicator, since 56.7% of its variation could be explained by deposition, particularly by nitrogen compounds. It was shown that approx. 75% of the ForestBIOTA plots are affected by an unsustainably high throughfall nitrogen deposition. Based on these outcomes, it was possible to determine a nitrogen critical load of 2.4 kg ha−1 yr−1.

Two open-top chamber experiments were carried out at a continental and a coastal location in Spain to test the ozone sensitivity of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. cycla) under Mediterranean conditions. Three cultivars of spinach and two cultivars of Swiss chard currently grown in commercial fields were screened for ozone tolerance in terms of marketable yield. Different physiological parameters were measured to identify traits related with this tolerance and ozone effects on yield quality. All the spinach and Swiss chard cultivars tested in this study were sensitive to ozone in terms of marketable biomass yield. The commercial biomass decreased on average between 13.8 and 17.9% in spinach and between 0 and 20.1% in Swiss chard at a continental and a coastal site, respectively, after two months of ozone exposure under ambient plus 40 ppb of ozone concentration compared to charcoal-filtered air. Ozone effects on the marketable yield were associated with the appearance of leaf visible injury and by reductions in the photosynthetic activity of the leaves. Swiss chard cultivars were generally more ozone tolerant than spinach cultivars. However, the ozone sensitivity differed between cultivars of the same species and effects were more pronounced at the coastal site, where environmental growing conditions favoured plant growth more than at the continental site. The physiological traits analysed (photosynthesis and gas exchange parameters and ascorbate concentration and redox status) were not related to differences in ozone tolerance between cultivars. Ozone effects on leaf nitrogen content and greenness reflected the impact of ozone on yield quality parameters for leafy vegetables, such as leaf nitrate concentration and the marketable value. These results show that leafy vegetables can be more sensitive to ozone than other horticultural crops like tomato, which is used as a representative crop in risk assessments of ozone effects on horticultural production in Europe., CIEMAT acknowledges funding from projects ÉCLAIRE (FP7-ENV-2011), NEREA (AGL2012-37815-C05), AGRISOST-CM (P2013/ABI-2717) and by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA). Fundación CEAM acknowledges projects DESESTRES (PROMETEOII/2014/038) and GEISpain 852 (CGL2014-52838-C2-2-R)., P2013/ABI-2717/AGRISOST-CM

Current ozone (O3) levels are high enough to negatively affect vegetation and may become worse in the future. Ozone risk assessments have recently shifted from exposure-based to flux-based metrics. Modeling stomatal O3 fluxes requires hourly O3 and meteorological data, which are not always available. Large datasets of O3 concentrations measured with passive samplers exist worldwide, and usually provide weekly to monthly means. We tested the suitability of using aggregated data instead of hourly data for O3 flux calculations with 3-year time series of O3 data from 24 Spanish air quality stations. Five different approaches and three different parameterizations were tested. Ozone-averaged values in combination with hourly meteorological data provided the most robust estimates of accumulated O3 fluxes (Phytotoxic Ozone Dose with no threshold, POD0), and the median of the absolute percent error (MAPE) due to aggregation came close to 5%. Aggregations from 1 week to 1 month yielded similar errors, which is important in the cost-efficiency terms of the chosen passive sampler exposure periodicity. One major limitation of these approaches is that they are not suitable for high POD thresholds, and that accuracy of the measurements with passive samplers has to be strictly assured in order to finally obtain acceptable errors. A combination of meteorological data and O3 passive sampler measurements may be used to estimate O3 fluxes at remote forest sites as a valuable risk assessment tool. © 2016

The combined effects of ozone (O3 ) and drought on isoprene emission were studied for the first time. Young hybrid poplars (clone 546, Populus deltoides cv. 55/56 x P. deltoides cv. Imperial) were exposed to O3 (charcoal-filtered air, CF, and non-filtered air +40 ppb, E-O3 ) and soil water stress (well-watered, WW, and mild drought, MD, one-third irrigation) for 96 days. Consistent with light-saturated photosynthesis (Asat ), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci ) and chlorophyll content, isoprene emission depended on drought, O3 , leaf position and sampling time. Drought stimulated emission (+38.4%), and O3 decreased it (-40.4%). Ozone increased the carbon cost per unit of isoprene emission. Ozone and drought effects were stronger in middle leaves (13th-15th from the apex) than in upper leaves (6th-8th). Only Asat showed a significant interaction between O3 and drought. When the responses were up-scaled to the entire-plant level, however, drought effects on total leaf area translated into around twice higher emission from WW plants in clean air than in E-O3 . Our results suggest that direct effects on plant emission rates and changes in total leaf area may affect isoprene emission from intensively cultivated hybrid poplar under combined MD and O3 exposure, with important feedbacks for air quality.

Plant responses to enhanced ozone levels have been studied in two pairs of evergreen-deciduous species (Pistacia terebinthus vs. P. lentiscus; Viburnum lantana vs. V. tinus) in Open Top Chambers. Ozone induced widespread visible injury, significantly reduced CO(2) assimilation and stomatal conductance (g(s)), impaired Rubisco efficiency and regeneration capacity (V(c,max,)J(max)) and altered fluorescence parameters only in the deciduous species. Differences in stomatal conductance could not explain the observed differences in sensitivity. In control plants, deciduous species showed higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity than their evergreen counterparts, suggesting metabolic differences that could make them more prone to redox imbalances. Ozone induced increases in SOD and/or peroxidase activities in all the species, but only evergreens were able to cope with the oxidative stress. The relevancy of these results for the effective ozone flux approach and for the current ozone Critical Levels is also discussed.

Ozone damage on trees leaves no residue that can be detected analytically; therefore visible assessment is the only easily detectable method for collecting evidence. Here we present an evaluation of an assessment method using damaged detected on trees grown in commercial tree nurseries. The extent of visible ozone injury to susceptible species was investigated on a total of 95 species across 13 nurseries, over four European countries during the 2006 season. Commercial nurseries were chosen because nurseries stock a wide range of accessible, susceptible species which are irrigated when necessary and therefore represent the optimum conditions for assessment of potential risk. Ozone climate at each site was characterised using a combination of passive and active samplers to estimate the accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40). Meteorological and ozone monitoring data were used to calculate cumulative ozone flux using the DO3SE model (Emberson et al., 2000). Ozone injury was observed in all countries demonstrating that the impacts of ozone are not restricted to countries with higher ozone concentrations; the longer day-length, higher moisture availability and cooler conditions in northern Europe resulted in a greater potential for ozone uptake. Further use of commercial nurseries as an important, unofficial, bioindicator network is warranted.

The effects of ozone in four maple species, Acer campestre, A. opalus subsp. granatense, A. monspessulanum and A. pseudoplatanus were studied in OTC under two different experimental conditions: in charcoal filtered air (CF), and in non filtered air plus 30 ppb ozone (NF+30). The four species of maple showed contrasting sensitivity to ozone as demonstrated by visible injury development, gas exchange and chlorophyll a fluorescence, and growth measurements. Plant injury index (i.e. a combination of percentage of injured leaves and leaf surface affected) was more consistently related with physiological measurements than the onset of first symptom of visible injury. Differences in ozone sensitivity among species may be partly related to higher stomatal conductances in A. opalus and A. pseudoplatanus. In these two species, ozone produced significant reductions in CO2 assimilation under saturating light conditions (Asat), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (Tr) and Water Use Efficiency (WUE) (the latter also significantly declined in A. campestre) towards the end of summer, while intercellular CO2 concentrations (Ci) increased significantly. In asymptomatic leaves of A. opalus, neither stomatal limitation nor photoinhibitory damage (Fv/Fm) could explain the observed decline of Asat, and photosynthesis was down regulated by reducing the proportion of absorbed energy used in photochemistry (ΦPSII) at expenses of the energy dispersed non-photochemically (NPQ). Leaf N content also declined significantly in A. pseudoplatanus. Plants exposed to ozone showed a tendency to decrease growth, but it was not significant within the exposure period for any of the four species. The most sensitive species were A. opalus and A. pseudoplatanus, while the species with the smallest and more coriaceous leaves, A. monspessulanum, was the most resistant.

A biomonitoring study using the ozone-sensitive bioindicator plant Nicotiana tabacum cv. Bel-W3 was conducted in the city of Valencia (eastern Spain) and surrounding areas in 2002. Plants were exposed to ambient air at seven sites, including four traffic-exposed urban sites, a large urban garden and a suburban and a rural station, for six consecutive 2-week periods using highly standardised methods. Foliar injury was registered at all stations in at least one of the exposure periods. The urban stations submitted to intense traffic showed lower ozone injury than the less traffic-exposed stations. Strong changes in the intensity of ozone injury were observed for the different exposure periods. Leaf injury was significantly related to both mean ozone values (24 and 12 h means) and cumulative exposure indices (AOT20, AOT40). However, correlation strength was moderate (r s = 0.39 to 0.58), suggesting that the plant response to ozone was modified by environmental factors. The use of sensitive bioindicators like tobacco Bel-W3 in cities provides complementary information to that of continuously operating air quality monitors, as the impact of ambient ozone levels is directly measured.

Zwackhiomyces cervinae Calat., Triebel & Pérez-Ortega is described as new to science from Spain and Iran. This lichenicolous species grows on the lateral side of the squamules of Acarospora cervina, and it is characterized by its relatively large ascospores, which are brown when overmature. It is compared with several Zwackhiomyces species and with other taxa sharing some of its characters. A key to all the known species of the genus is also provided.