The Idea

Tropospheric ozone continues to be the major air pollutant of greatest concern to the health of native plant species throughout many areas of Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world. Further control of the ozone problem depends upon more effective documentation of the direct and indirect effects that this air pollutant has on the vegetation.

The most common manifestation of ozone injury is the presence of the distinctive assembly of foliar symptoms described within the ozone guide 'Ozone and broadleaved species - A guide to the identification of ozone induced foliar injury'. This guide provides numerous illustrations of known and typical foliar ozone symptoms for many native plant species in Switzerland.

It is the aim to collect and manage the existing data on visible ozone symptoms to create a tool for symptom assessment, available to everyone. This web site is based on a data bank and therefore searchable for criteria such as plant form, plant species, location, symptom form, validation status, and the project in which the symptom was found.

Up to date the data base includes over 80 plant species with their symptom expressions.