Impacts of herbaceous bioenergy crops on atmospheric volatile organic composition and potential consequences for global climate change

Abstract

The introduction of new crops to agroecosystems can change the chemical composition of the atmosphere by altering the amount and type of plant-derived biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). BVOCs are produced by plants to aid in defense, pollination, and communication. Once released into the atmosphere, they have the ability to influence its chemical and physical properties. In this study, we compared BVOC emissions from three potential bioenergy crops and estimated their theoretical impacts on bioenergy agroecosystems. The crops chosen were miscanthus (Miscanthus 9 giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), and an assemblage of prairie species (mix of~28 species). The concentration of BVOCs was different within and above plant canopies. All crops produced higher levels of emissions at the upper canopy level. Miscanthus produced lower amounts of volatiles compared with other grasses. The chemical composition of volatiles differed significantly among plant communities. BVOCs from miscanthus were depleted in terpenoids relative to the other vegetation types. The carbon flux via BVOC emissions, calculated using the flux-gradient method, was significantly higher in the prairie assemblage compared with miscanthus and switchgrass. The BVOC carbon flux was approximately three orders of magnitude lower than the net fluxes of carbon measured over the same fields using eddy covariance systems. Extrapolation of our findings to the landscape scale leads us to suggest that the widespread adoption of bioenergy crops could potentially alter the composition of BVOCs in the atmosphere, thereby influencing its warming potential, the formation of atmospheric particulates, and interactions between plants and arthropods. Our data and projections indicate that, among at least these three potential options for bioenergy production, miscanthus is likely to have lower impacts on atmospheric chemistry and biotic interactions mediated by these volatiles when miscanthus is planted on the landscape scale.

Dynamics and mechanisms of volatile organic compound exchanges in a winter wheat field

“…Although they account for 38% of the land area (FAOSTATS, 2013), agricultural ecosystems have been poorly investigated. Most BVOC studies that have investigated crop species were conducted at the leafscale (Crespo et al, 2013;Graus et al, 2013;Hu et al, 2018;Karl et al, 2005;Kesselmeier et al, 1998;K€ onig et al, 1995;Miresmailli et al, 2013;Mozaffar et al, 2017) or lasted only a few days and encompassed poorly contrasted weather conditions (Copeland et al, 2012;Graus et al, 2013), a noticeable exception being the recent study by Wiß et al (2017) on maize using whole plant chambers. In particular, winter wheat is the most important crop worldwide in terms of harvested area, alone representing more than 14% of all agricultural lands (FAOSTATS, 2015), yet has only been investigated in five BVOC studies (Gallagher et al, 2000;Gonzage Gomez et al, 2019;K€ onig et al, 1995;Wang et al, 2015;Wenda-Piesik, 2011).…”

Net ecosystem fluxes and composition of biogenic volatile organic compounds over a maize field–interaction of meteorology and phenological stages

“…In the US, the high-emitting giant cane (Arundo donax L.) has been evaluated having a negative impact on air quality when extensively planted (Porter et al, 2012), while a land-use change from natural to energy grasses, which are supposed to be low emitters, may have contrary impacts (Miresmailli et al, 2013). For the majority of bioenergy plants such as rapeseed, however, the impact of BVOCs on air quality is generally seen as smaller (Morrison et al, 2016) or indifferent from other agricultural crops (Renner & M€ unzenberg, 2003).…”

Rapid leaf development drives the seasonal pattern of volatile organic compound (VOC) fluxes in a ‘coppiced’ bioenergy poplar plantation

“…Therefore, the widespread establishment of isopreneemitting bioenergy crops may negatively impact local air quality (Ashworth et al 2012;Porter et al 2012;Beltman et al 2013) with possible consequences on human health (Ashworth et al 2013;Porter et al 2015). Moreover, because isoprene protects leaves against the occurrence of oxidative and thermal stresses (Vickers et al 2009, Loreto & Schnitzler 2010) and mediate plant-insect interactions (Laothawornkitkul et al 2008;Loivamäki et al 2008), large land-use changes derived from intensive bioenergy production may have unpredictable consequences on ecological adaptation and diversity (Miresmailli et al 2013).…”

“…CO 2 ) (Ou et al 2009;Gelfand et al 2011). Comprehensive investigation of the seasonal pattern of VOC emission profiles in bioenergy crops has been carried out only for some herbaceous plant species (Eller et al 2011;Graus et al 2012;Miresmailli et al 2013) and only for an evergreen, broad-leaved ecosystem characterized by a limited seasonal variation of LAI (oil palm plantation, Misztal et al 2011).…”