A comparison of two stomatal conductance models for ozone flux modelling using data from two Brassica species

In this study we tested and compared a multiplicative stomatal model and a coupled semi-empirical stomatal-photosynthesis model in their ability to predict stomatal conductance to ozone (gst) using leaf-level data from oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) and broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck). For oilseed rape, the multiplicative model and the coupled model were able to explain 72% and 73% of the observed gst variance, respectively. For broccoli, the models were able to explain 53% and 51% of the observed gst variance, respectively. These results support the coupled semi-empirical stomatal-photosynthesis model as a valid alternative to the multiplicative stomatal model for O3 flux modelling, in terms of predictive performance.