Ricerc@Sapienza

The effects of nitrogen (N) deposition, tropospheric ozone (O3) and their interaction were investigated in two Mediterranean tree species, Fraxinus ornus L. (deciduous) and Quercus ilex L. (evergreen), having different leaf habits and resource use strategies. An experiment was conducted under controlled condition to analyse how nitrogen deposition affects the ecophysiological and biochemical traits, and to explore how the nitrogen-induced changes influence the response to O3.

A controlled experiment was conducted in order to understand how functional and structural traits of species with different leaf habits (Fraxinus ornus and Quercus ilex) shift as a consequence of nitrogen (N) addition (30 Kg ha yr-1), and to explore the effect that nitrogen has on the water stress response. The experiment was divided in two stages: stage I, nitrogen addition under well water condition; stage II, nitrogen addition under drought. Functionality of the photosynthetic machinery, growth and biomass partitioning were assessed. The N content at leaf level increases in F.