Abstract
Several authors1–3 have observed that the effects of SO2 on growth are more severe in winter and Davies4 has shown that this may be due to low irradiance and the short photoperiod reducing the plants' capacity to detoxify the pollutant. However, in winter plants are also subjected to potentially lethal stresses such as freezing. The important forage grass, Lolium perenne, shows only poor resistance to winter temperatures, hence, any effect of pollution on hardiness could be of considerable significance. Here we demonstrate that SO2 reduces resistance to sub-zero temperatures and that this effect is influenced by mineral nutrition. A reduction in freezing tolerance may contribute to rapid selection of SO2-resistant genotypes, particularly in newly sown leys.
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Davison, A., Bailey, I. SO2 pollution reduces the freezing resistance of ryegrass. Nature 297, 400–402 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297400a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/297400a0
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