Phenological development, leaf emergence, tillering and leaf area index, and duration of spring wheat across Europe in response to CO2 and ozone

Phenological development, leaf emergence, tillering and leaf area index (LAI), and duration (LAD) of spring wheat cv. Minaret, grown in open-top chambers at different sites throughout Europe for up to 3 years at each site, were investigated in response to elevated CO₂ (ambient CO₂×2) and ozone (ambient ozone ×1.5) concentrations.

Phenological development varied among experiments and was partly explained by differences in temperature among sites and years. There was a weak positive relationship between the thermal rate of development and the mean daylength for the period from emergence to anthesis. Main stems produced on average 7.7 leaves with little variation among experiments. Variation was higher for the thermal rate of leaf emergence, which was partly explained by differences in the rate of change of daylength at plant emergence among seasons. Phenological development, rate of leaf emergence and final leaf number were not affected by CO₂ and ozone exposure. Responses of tillering and LAI to CO₂ and ozone exposure were significant only in some experiments. However, the direction of responses was consistent for most experiments. The number of tillers and ears per plant, respectively, was increased as a result of CO₂ enrichment by about 13% at the beginning of stem elongation (DC31), at anthesis and at maturity. Exposure to ozone had no effect on tillering. LAI was increased as a result of CO₂ elevation by about 11% at DC31 and by about 14% at anthesis. Ozone exposure reduced LAI at anthesis by about 9%. No such effect was observed at DC31. There were very few interactive effects of CO₂ and ozone on tillering and LAI. Variations in tillering and LAI, and their responses to CO₂ and ozone exposure, were partly explained by single linear relationships considering differences in plant density, tiller density and the duration of developmental phases among experiments. Consideration of temperature and incident photosynthetically active radiation in this analysis did not reduce the unexplained variation. There was a negative effect of ozone exposure on leaf area duration at most sites. Direct effects of elevated CO₂ concentration on leaf senescence, both positive and negative, were observed in some experiments. There was evidence in several experiments that elevated CO₂ concentration ameliorated the negative effect of ozone on leaf area duration. It was concluded from these results that an analysis of the interactive effects of climate, CO₂ and ozone on canopy development requires reference to the physiological processes involved.