Ground-level O3 pollution and its impacts on food crops in China: A review

Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution has become one of the top environmental issues in China, especially in those economically vibrant and densely populated regions. In this paper, we reviewed studies on the O3 concentration observation and O3 effects on food crops throughout China. Data from 118 O3 monitoring sites reported in the literature show that the variability of O3 concentration is a function of geographic location. The impacts of O3 on food crops (wheat and rice) were studied at five sites, equipped with Open Top Chamber or O3-FACE (free-air O3 concentration enrichment) system. Based on exposure concentration and stomatal O3 flux–response relationships obtained from the O3-FACE experimental results in China, we found that throughout China current and future O3 levels induce wheat yield loss by 6.4–14.9% and 14.8–23.0% respectively. Some policies to reduce ozone pollution and impacts are suggested.