Soil urease and catalase responses to ozone pollution are affected by the ozone sensitivity of wheat cultivars |
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| Authors: | T‐J Kou SK Lam D‐L Chen W‐W Yu |
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| Affiliation: | 1. College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China;2. School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Understanding the effects of elevated O3 (EO3) on belowground process such as soil enzyme activities is essential to evaluate plant physiological reaction and soil processes (e.g. carbon and nitrogen turnover) under predicted increases in atmospheric O3. In this study, O3‐induced changes in soil urease (UA) and catalase activities (CTA) under two contrasting wheat cultivars (O3‐sensitive versus O3‐tolerant) were investigated using a free‐air O3 enrichment (O3FACE) facility in China. EO3 (60 ppb compared with 40 ppb in ambient O3) generally increased UA under the O3‐tolerant cultivar but reduced it under the O3‐sensitive cultivar for different soil depths and growth stages. In contrast, the effects of EO3 on CTA were not consistent and varied with soil depths and growth stages. These results suggest that the O3 sensitivity of wheat cultivars plays an important role in determining the effects of EO3 on soil enzyme activities. The contrasting responses of soil UA and CTA to EO3 may alter the effect of projected increase in tropospheric O3 on soil carbon and nitrogen turnover. |
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| Keywords: | agroecosystem ozone pollution ozone sensitivity soil enzyme wheat |
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