Relative Yield Loss Calculations in Wheat (Triticum durum Desf. cv. Camacho) due to Ozone Exposure

Abstract

In this work, an estimation of the relative yield losses of wheat due to ozone exposure is made by means of two approaches proposed by the CLRTAP (Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution): the exposure-response approach, which deals with the exposure of plants to ozone during a certain time, and the accumulated uptake approach, which, besides ozone exposure, deals with the velocity of absorption of the contaminant and the environmental factors that modulate that absorption. Once the relative yield losses are calculated by means of the two approaches, the aim is to establish which index (the exposure-response index or the accumulated uptake index) best characterizes the response of wheat plants to ozone. The relative yield losses are compared considering two watering regimes: well watered and nonwatered. The results obtained show that the relative yield losses in wheat due to ozone exposure are much more strongly linked to the real quantity of ozone absorbed by plants than to the environmental ozone exposure, which means that the accumulated uptake approach is much more realistic than the exposure-response approach. Relative yield loss estimations were higher in a crop with no watering; 3% of relative yield losses more than a crop watered until field capacity.