How does ozone affect plants?

Question

How does ozone affect plants?

Answer 1

Ozone plays two different roles. Ozone forms naturally high in the atmosphere were it plays a vital role in filtering out UV radiation. UV radiation will break molecular bonds in organic molecules and thus will destroy living tissue. In that way ozone makes plant life possible on the surface of the earth.

Ozone is also formed near the surface of the earth by the burning of fuels. It is primarily a man made pollutant in this case. Ozone is a strong oxidizer which can damage plant and animal tissues and stunt growth.

From Wikipedia: "... there is also evidence of significant reduction in agricultural yields due to increased ground-level ozone and pollution which interferes with photosynthesis and stunts overall growth of some plant species.[16][17]"