Evidence of ozone-induced adverse effects on crops in the Mediterranean region

The impacts of ambient ozone pollution on crops in the Mediterranean countr ies have been recorded regularly in the so-called "grey literature" of UN/E CE Workshop Reports for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Poll ution, and less frequently in the peer-reviewed literature. This short comm unication reviews such records and shows that ambient ozone episodes have b een reported to cause visible injury on 24 agricultural and horticultural c rops grown in commercial fields including three of the most important crops in the region (wheat, maize, and grapevine). On one occasion, the damage w as so extensive that complete crop loss occurred in commercial glasshouses of Butterhead lettuce in one area of Greece. Experiments with open-top cham bers have indicated that ambient ozone caused 17-39 % yield loss in crops s uch as wheat, bean, watermelon and tomato. The applicability of the long-te rm critical level of ozone described by Fuhrer et al. (Environ. Pollut. 97 (1997) 91)for the Mediterranean areas is also considered. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.