Ozone exposure and flux-based response functions for photosynthetic traits in wheat, maize and poplar

•Photosynthetic ozone response functions were established for wheat, maize and poplar.•Ozone reduced chlorophyll content, CO2 assimilation and Rubisco activity in the three plant models.•Dose-based indexes (PODY) were slightly superior to the AOT40 in fitting the data.•The best fit was obtained with the POD0.5 for maize and the POD3 for poplar.•The POD6 appeared relevant for wheat, although varietal differences were found.

Ozone exposure- and dose-response relationships based on photosynthetic leaf traits (CO2 assimilation, chlorophyll content, Rubisco and PEPc activities) were established for wheat, maize and poplar plants grown in identical controlled conditions, providing a comparison between crop and tree species, as well as between C3 and C4 plants. Intra-specific variability was addressed by comparing two wheat cultivars with contrasting ozone tolerance. Depending on plant models and ozone levels, first-order, second-order and segmented linear regression models were used to derive ozone response functions. Overall, flux-based functions appeared superior to exposure-based functions in describing the data, but the improvement remained modest. The best fit was obtained using the POD0.5 for maize and POD3 for poplar. The POD6 appeared relevant for wheat, although intervarietal differences were found. Our results suggest that taking into account the dynamics of leaf antioxidant capacity could improve current methods for ozone risk assessment for plants.