Variability of BVOC Emissions from Commercially Used willow (<i>Salix</i> spp.) Varieties

Willow (Salix spp.) trees are commonly used in short rotation coppices (SRC) to produce renewable energy. However, these plants are also known to emit high concentrations of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), which have a large influence on air quality. Many different clones of commercially used Salix varieties exist today, but only a few studies have focused on BVOC emissions from these newer varieties. In this study, four varieties commercially propagated for biofuel production have been studied on a leaf-scale in the southern part of Sweden. The trees had either their first or second growing season, and measurements on BVOC emissions were done during the growing season in 2017 from the end of May to the beginning of September. Isoprene was the dominant emitted compound for all varieties but the average emission amongst varieties varied from 4.00 to 12.66 µg gdw−1 h−1. Average monoterpene (MT) (0.78–1.87 µg gdw−1 h−1) and sesquiterpene (SQT) emission rates (0.22–0.57 µg gdw−1 h−1) differed as well among the varieties. Besides isoprene, other compounds like ocimene, linalool and caryophyllene also showed a response to light but not for all varieties. Younger plants had several times higher emissions of non-isoprenoids (other VOCs) than the corresponding 1-year-old trees. The conclusions from this study show that the choice of variety can have a large impact on the regional BVOC emission budget. Genetics, together with stand age, should be taken into account when modelling BVOC emissions on a regional scale, for example, for air quality assessments

Fourfold higher tundra volatile emissions due to arctic summer warming

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), which are mainly emitted by vegetation, may create either positive or negative climate forcing feedbacks. In the Subarctic, BVOC emissions are highly responsive to temperature, but the effects of climatic warming on BVOC emissions have not been assessed in more extreme arctic ecosystems. The Arctic undergoes rapid climate change, with air temperatures increasing at twice the rate of the global mean. Also, the amount of winter precipitation is projected to increase in large areas of the Arctic, and it is unknown how winter snow depth affects BVOC emissions during summer. Here we examine the responses of BVOC emissions to experimental summer warming and winter snow addition - each treatment alone and in combination - in an arctic heath during two growing seasons. We observed a 280% increase relative to ambient in BVOC emissions in response to a 4°C summer warming. Snow addition had minor effects on growing season BVOC emissions after one winter but decreased BVOC emissions after the second winter. We also examined differences between canopy and air temperatures and found that the tundra canopy surface was on average 7.7°C and maximum 21.6°C warmer than air. This large difference suggests that the tundra surface temperature is an important driver for emissions of BVOCs, which are temperature dependent. Our results demonstrate a strong response of BVOC emissions to increasing temperatures in the Arctic, suggesting that emission rates will increase with climate warming and thereby feed back to regional climate change

Off-season biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from heath mesocosms: responses to vegetation cutting

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) affect both atmospheric processes and ecological interactions. Our primary aim was to differentiate between BVOC emissions from above- and belowground plant parts and heath soil outside the growing season. The second aim was to assess emissions from herbivory, mimicked by cutting the plants. Mesocosms from a temperate Deschampsia flexuosa-dominated heath ecosystem and a subarctic mixed heath ecosystem were either left intact, the aboveground vegetation was cut, or all plant parts (including roots) were removed. For 3–5 weeks, BVOC emissions were measured in growth chambers by an enclosure method using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. CO(2) exchange, soil microbial biomass, and soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations were also analyzed. Vegetation cutting increased BVOC emissions by more than 20-fold, and the induced compounds were mainly eight-carbon compounds and sesquiterpenes. In the Deschampsia heath, the overall low BVOC emissions originated mainly from soil. In the mixed heath, root, and soil emissions were negligible. Net BVOC emissions from roots and soil of these well-drained heaths do not significantly contribute to ecosystem emissions, at least outside the growing season. If insect outbreaks become more frequent with climate change, ecosystem BVOC emissions will periodically increase due to herbivory

Climate change-induced vegetation change as a driver of increased subarctic biogenic volatile organic compound emissions

Emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) have been earlier shown to be highly temperature sensitive in subarctic ecosystems. As these ecosystems experience rapidly advancing pronounced climate warming, we aimed to investigate how warming affects the BVOC emissions in the long term (up to 13 treatment years). We also aimed to assess whether the increased litterfall resulting from the vegetation changes in the warming subarctic would affect the emissions. The study was conducted in a field experiment with factorial open-top chamber warming and annual litter addition treatments on subarctic heath in Abisko, northern Sweden. After 11 and 13 treatment years, BVOCs were sampled from plant communities in the experimental plots using a push–pull enclosure technique and collection into adsorbent cartridges during the growing season and analyzed with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Plant species coverage in the plots was analyzed by the point intercept method. Warming by 2 °C caused a 2-fold increase in monoterpene and 5-fold increase in sesquiterpene emissions, averaged over all measurements. When the momentary effect of temperature was diminished by standardization of emissions to a fixed temperature, warming still had a significant effect suggesting that emissions were also indirectly increased. This indirect increase appeared to result from increased plant coverage and changes in vegetation composition. The litter addition treatment also caused significant increases in the emission rates of some BVOC groups, especially when combined with warming. The combined treatment had both the largest vegetation changes and the highest BVOC emissions. The increased emissions under litter addition were probably a result of a changed vegetation composition due to alleviated nutrient limitation and stimulated microbial production of BVOCs. We suggest that the changes in the subarctic vegetation composition induced by climate warming will be the major factor indirectly affecting the BVOC emission potentials and composition