Though ozone presents a threat to the health of forests, interestingly, more sensitive species were also discovered to have the potential to serve as bioindicators of ozone. They could potentially be used to monitor ozone levels in more remote areas. Multiple studies have been conducted regarding this potential method of identifying ozone with biodiversity. This can be particularly useful for determining relative air qualities of a region or location, and for areas where mechanical ozone monitors might not be available (Manning, 1998)

In a research done in the Carpathian Mountain range in the Central European countries of Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine, 29 species of plants in the forested mountains are identified as potential bioindicators of ozone. Out of the 29 selected species, 13 have been determined as ozone bioindicators in Western Europe as well (Manning, Godzik and Musselman, 2002).

However, this study does carry some drawbacks. Environmental factors such as relative humidity, temperature, light, and soil moisture could affect the opening and closing stomata, hence affecting the plant’s overall sensitivity to ozone, which may cause unreliability in being a bioindicator (Novak et al., 2003). Thus, although there is some light shed in using plants as bioindicators of ozone, this method may only be applicable to some regions and not worldwide.

 

Reference

Manning, W. (1998, January 01). The use of plants as bioindicators of ozone. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/26947

Manning, W. J., Godzik, B., & Musselman, R. (2002). Potential bioindicator plant species for ambient ozone in forested mountain areas of central Europe. Environmental Pollution, 119(3), 283-290.

Novak, K., Skelly, J. M., Schaub, M., Kräuchi, N., Hug, C., Landolt, W., & Bleuler, P. (2003). Ozone air pollution and foliar injury development on native plants of Switzerland. Environmental Pollution, 125(1), 41-52.