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Origin of volatile organic compound emissions from subarctic tundra under global warming.
- Source :
-
Global change biology [Glob Chang Biol] 2020 Mar; Vol. 26 (3), pp. 1908-1925. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Jan 20. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Warming occurs in the Arctic twice as fast as the global average, which in turn leads to a large enhancement in terpenoid emissions from vegetation. Volatile terpenoids are the main class of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that play crucial roles in atmospheric chemistry and climate. However, the biochemical mechanisms behind the temperature-dependent increase in VOC emissions from subarctic ecosystems are largely unexplored. Using <superscript>13</superscript> CO <subscript>2</subscript> -labeling, we studied the origin of VOCs and the carbon (C) allocation under global warming in the soil-plant-atmosphere system of contrasting subarctic heath tundra vegetation communities characterized by dwarf shrubs of the genera Salix or Betula. The projected temperature rise of the subarctic summer by 5°C was realistically simulated in sophisticated climate chambers. VOC emissions strongly depended on the plant species composition of the heath tundra. Warming caused increased VOC emissions and significant changes in the pattern of volatiles toward more reactive hydrocarbons. The <superscript>13</superscript> C was incorporated to varying degrees in different monoterpene and sesquiterpene isomers. We found that de novo monoterpene biosynthesis contributed to 40%-44% (Salix) and 60%-68% (Betula) of total monoterpene emissions under the current climate, and that warming increased the contribution to 50%-58% (Salix) and 87%-95% (Betula). Analyses of above- and belowground <superscript>12/13</superscript> C showed shifts of C allocation in the plant-soil systems and negative effects of warming on C sequestration by lowering net ecosystem exchange of CO <subscript>2</subscript> and increasing C loss as VOCs. This comprehensive analysis provides the scientific basis for mechanistically understanding the processes controlling terpenoid emissions, required for modeling VOC emissions from terrestrial ecosystems and predicting the future chemistry of the arctic atmosphere. By changing the chemical composition and loads of VOCs into the atmosphere, the current data indicate that global warming in the Arctic may have implications for regional and global climate and for the delicate tundra ecosystems.<br /> (© 2020 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Subjects :
- Arctic Regions
Ecosystem
Tundra
Global Warming
Volatile Organic Compounds
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1365-2486
- Volume :
- 26
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Global change biology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 31957145
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14935