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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Off-season biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from heath mesocosms

T2 - responses to vegetation cutting

AU - Rinnan, Riikka

AU - Gierth, Diana

AU - Bilde, Merete

AU - Rosenørn, Thomas

AU - Michelsen, Anders

N1 - CENPERMOA[2013]

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - 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 vegetatio 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. CO2 exchan, soil microbial biomass, and soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations were also analyzed. Vegetatio 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 originate mainly from soil. In the mixed heath, root, and soil emissions were negligible. Net BVOC emissions fro 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.

AB - 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 vegetatio 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. CO2 exchan, soil microbial biomass, and soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations were also analyzed. Vegetatio 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 originate mainly from soil. In the mixed heath, root, and soil emissions were negligible. Net BVOC emissions fro 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.

U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00224

DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00224

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1664-302X

VL - 4

JO - Frontiers in Microbiology

JF - Frontiers in Microbiology

M1 - 224

ER -