Nitrogen availability modifies the ozone responses of Scots pine seedlings exposed in an open-field system.

Abstract

Three-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings were exposed to either ambient or elevated (1.5-1.6 x ambient) ozone concentration ([O3]) for three growing seasons in an open-field fumigation facility where they were irrigated during the growing season with a nutrient solution providing nitrogen (N) at 70 (LN treatment), 100 (control) or 150% (HN treatment) of the optimum supply rate. Treatment effects were most evident during the third year of exposure, when the ambient [O3] + HN treatment enhanced whole-plant biomass, root/shoot dry weight ratio, needle pigment concentrations and the number of chloroplast plastoglobuli in the mesophyll cells in current-year (C) needles, whereas it reduced starch accumulation in C needles and abscission of 2-year-old (C+2) needles. In the control fertilization, 3 years of exposure to elevated [O3] decreased stem-base diameter and increased K concentration and electron density of chloroplast stroma in C needles. Plants in the HN treatment exposed for 3 years to elevated [O3] had significantly lower heights, current-year main shoot length and root/shoot dry mass ratio than control plants, and increased abscission of C+2 needles. In contrast, O3-induced changes in the ultrastructure of mesophyll cells were most evident in seedlings grown for 3 years in the LN treatment. We conclude that, in Scots pine, a relatively O3-tolerant species, chronic O3 exposure leads to cumulative growth reduction, increased needle abscission and changes in carbon allocation that are strongly influenced by plant N availability.