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

Abstract

Bioenergy crop production is rapidly expanding in Europe, and the potential emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) might change the chemical composition of the atmosphere, influencing in turn air quality and regional climate. The environmental impacts of bioenergy crops on air chemistry are difficult to assess due to a lack of accurate field observations. Therefore, we studied BVOC fluxes from a bioenergy maize field in North-Eastern Germany throughout the entire reproductive growth stage of the plants. Combining automated large chambers and proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), we successfully measured fluxes of the highly reactive hydrocarbons monoterpenes (MTs) and sesquiterpenes (SQTs), together with several other BVOCs, including alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, benzenoids, and fatty acid derivatives. Emissions of MTs and SQTs were relatively high (17.0% and 3.6% of total mean molar BVOC emission, respectively) compared to methanol emissions (17.6%). Seasonal MT and SQT fluxes were clearly associated with the flowering phase, originating mainly from the flowering tissues as shown in additional laboratory experiments. From the observations of CO 2 net ecosystem exchange and evapotranspiration rates, we could exclude heat and drought stress-induced BVOC emissions. Standard emission factors calculated for all compounds, chemical groups, and growth stages, showed that the temperature dependency of volatile terpenoid fluxes decreased distinctively with proceeding development stage. The results indicate that emissions from large-scale bioenergy maize fields should be better differentiated and considered in regional estimates of aerosol formation. For the implementation of such relation into biogeochemical modelling, it should be considered that not only seasonal weather development but also phenological growth stages are determining the BVOC patterns and emission potentials.

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

“…for Miscanthus spp, for grassland, for maize and for maize, respectively. Also, while methanol exchange rates reported in this study were more than 6-fold more substantial than in the maize study of Wiß et al (2017), acetone and acetaldehyde exchange rates were 5 to 10-fold less important.…”

“…It is well known that OVOC exchanges are bi-directional (Jardine et al, 2011(Jardine et al, , 2008Kesselmeier et al, 1998;Niinemets et al, 2014;Wohlfahrt et al, 2015), and that cold and wet conditions favour uptake, whereas warm and dry conditions rather favour emission. Several studies have reported methanol (Laffineur et al, 2012;Wiß et al, 2017;Wohlfahrt et al, 2015), acetaldehyde (Jardine et al, 2008) or acetic acid uptake (Jardine et al, 2011) under wet and/or cold conditions, including at the LTO site (Bachy et al, 2016). In particular, bi-directional methanol exchanges were measured for bare soil at the LTO site, and analyses indicated that Fig.…”

“…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).…”

Long-term dynamics of monoterpene synthase activities, monoterpene storage pools and emissions in boreal Scots pine

“…Wiß et al, 2017), not only in deciduous plant species but also in evergreens, which 5 retain their foliage for several years. In evergreens, the development of new buds and foliage occurring in spring is characterized by conspicuously high emissions of monoterpenes, methanol and some other VOCs (Aalto et al, 2014).…”

Dominant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured at four Cannabis growing facilities: Pilot study results

“…Moreover, different types of plants (mainly Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica) at different growing stages and conditions (soil type, light, fertilization, watering, ventilation, size of pots, concentration of CO 2 in grow rooms, relative humidity, temperature, etc.) may release BVOCs in various ratios (Niinemets, Loreto, and Reichstein 2004;Riedlmeier et al 2017;Wiß et al 2017). Knowing the ERs of BVOCs per plant, the non-BVOC concentrations in the facilities, the release of these emissions into the air, and the concentrations of NOx around the facilities can help estimate the impact of Cannabis grow facilities on air quality and develop optimal air pollution control strategies in the future.…”