An Intermittent Exposure Regime Did Not Alter the Crop Yield and Biomass Responses to an Elevated Ozone Concentration

The intermittent ozone (O₃) exposure of crops to alternating high and low concentrations is common in fields, but its impact on crop production has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, two widely planted and O₃-sensitive crops, winter wheat and soybean, were intermittently exposed to elevated O₃ concentrations in open-top chambers. The results showed that the winter wheat and soybean yields significantly decreased with O₃ exposure (AOT40, cumulative hourly O₃ concentration above 40 ppb) (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The relative yield losses were 0.99% per AOT40 for winter wheat and 1.2% per AOT40 for soybean, respectively. The responses of the crop biomasses to elevated O₃ concentrations were lower than that of crop yield. Although the O₃-induced crop yield and biomass losses under continuous O₃ exposure were greater than those under intermittent O₃ exposure, the differences were not statistically significant. Therefore, we can conclude that the effects of elevated O₃ concentrations on crops are closely related to the exposure dose but not significantly related to the temporal distribution of elevated O₃ concentrations. This study improves our understanding of how crop production responds to intermittent O₃ exposure.