Effects of the Nordic photoperiod on ozone sensitivity and repair in different clover species studied using infrared imaging.

Plants in Nordic regions can be more ozone sensitive at a given ozone concentration than plants at lower latitudes. A recent study shows that the Nordic summer photoperiod, particularly the dim nighttime light, can increase visible foliar injury and alter leaf transpiration in subterranean clover. Effects of photoperiod on the ozone sensitivity of white and red clover cultivars adapted to Nordic conditions were investigated. Although ozone induced visible foliar injury and leaf transpirational changes in white clover, the effects were independent of photoperiod. In red clover, ozone combined with a long photoperiod with dim nights (8 nights) induced more severe visible injuries than with a short photoperiod. Furthermore, transpirational changes in red clover depended on photoperiod. Thus, a long photoperiod can increase ozone sensitivity differently in clover cultivars with different degrees of adaptation to northern conditions, suggesting that ozone indices used in risk analysis should take this effect into account.