Effects of ozone concentration on growth of tomato at various light, air humidity and carbon dioxide levels

Abstract The effect of ozone (O 3 ) concentration on the growth of Lycopersicon esculentum was studied at different photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD), relative air humidities (RH) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations. Increasing the O 3 concentration from −1 for 6 h per day reduced the shoot dry weight 35% at 70% RH and 62% at 90% RH. Increasing the PPFD from 100 to 350 μmol m −2 s −1 significantly reduced the effect of O 3 in one of two experiments. The most pronounced interaction between RH, PPFD and O 3 was found on plant height. High O 3 levels generally decreased plant height at low PPFD and had no, or a stimulating, effect at high PPFD. Raising the RH from 70 to 90% significantly increased the negative effect of O 3 on height. Increasing the O 3 concentration from −1 significantly decreased plant height at low CO 2 concentration (300–340 μl 1 −1 ), but small effects were found at high CO 2 concentration (700–800 μl 1 −1 ).

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