The authors wish to thank the national funds from FCT-Science and
Technology Portuguese Foundation for the doctoral grant of D. Blanco-
Ward (SFRH/BD/139193/2018). Thanks, are also due for the financial
support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638),
to FCT/MEC through national funds, and the co-funding by FEDER
within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. The authors
wish to thank the DOUROZONE project (PTDC/AAG-MAA/3335/2014; POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016778) for financial support through
Project 3599 – Promoting the Scientific Production and the Technological
Development, and Thematic Networks (3599-PPCDT) – and
through FEDER.
The grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a crop with great cultural, economic and ecological relevance for Mediterranean
environments besides being the fruit crop with largest acreage and economic value at the global scale. Its
exposure to high levels of tropospheric ozone (O3) can result in phytotoxic effects and thus it is important to
comprehensively re-evaluate these effects as well as related processes. A review of the validity and limitations of
the standards used for the protection of vegetation in relation to ambient O3, the state-of the-art knowledge on O3
phytotoxic effects on the grapevine and the available means to assess its impact are presented and discussed. It is
concluded that wide regions in the world, mainly between latitudes 30◦ and 50◦ N, where the grapevine has been
traditionally cultivated, are exposed to O3 concentrations that can affect both the yield and quality of the grape.
Recently reported studies for global cultivars such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, along publicly available
maps on O3 standards to protect vegetation at the European and global scale, indicate potential yield reductions
in the range of 20–31% and the quality of the grape can also be affected by reductions of total polyphenols in the
range of 15–23% for these areas. Although a tendency to reduce ambient O3 levels has been registered since 2000
in the western European Mediterranean basin, the flux of O3 into the grapevine leaves could still exceed critical
levels with phenological advancement driven by the increase of temperatures or interaction between O3 and
other climatic variables such as drought or high summer light intensities. Higher O3 exposures are reported in
western United States of America and eastern China, with this last region maintaining an increasing tendency in
summer ambient O3 levels. It is still necessary to adopt common experimental and monitoring protocols to establish grapevine-specific O3 relationships and critical levels, as there is not yet a coherent and shared database
for detailed risk assessment for this crop.
