Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a potent threat to food security. In recent years, increasing
evidence suggests that ozone can have large effects on the growth and functioning of
grassland species, although the responses of grassland to ozone are complex and
difficult to predict. Given the global ecological and economic importance of
grasslands, there is a continuing need to research the effects of ozone on grassland and
pasture. In this PhD project, the impacts of ozone on temperate managed pasture were
investigated, primarily through a series of ozone-exposure experiments. Elevated
ozone (seasonal mean concentration 30-67ppb) was found to have large impacts on
pasture vegetation, including injury and premature senescence, reduced biomass
production, declining production and yield, and impacts on forage quality. Ozone
impacts on nodulation and nitrogen (N)-fixation in legumes have not extensively been
investigated, but could have important consequences for pasture sustainability, with
predicted reductions in the root nodule biomass of clovers (Trifolium spp.) of 12% or
more in UK pasture. Ozone impacts on below ground biomass displayed a strong
interaction with cutting, and intensive grazing could disproportionately increase the
sensitivity of N-fixation in pasture to the effects of ozone. Flux-based ozone doseresponse
relationships are constructed for biomass, total injury rates, N-fixation and
forage quality in high-sugar ryegrass (HSG) pasture mesocosms, which could assist in
the development of new critical levels for the protection of pasture vegetation.