Emissions of Biogenic VOCs from Boreal Ecosystems

• Main Authors: R. Janson, C. De Serves
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Norway; Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.600.4539; http://boreal.fmi.fi/biphorep/report/chapter4.pdf

Emission measurements of monoterpenes, isoprene, other light hydrocarbons, and light aldehydes and ketones were made with the chamber technique on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies), pine and spruce forest floors, and Sphagnum wetlands in Sweden and Finland. It was found that both Scots pine and Norway spruce emit significant amounts of acetone and some acetaldehyde to the atmosphere. The variability in the composition of monoterpene emissions from Scots pine is larger than hitherto thought. Notably a specimen of Scots pine in northern Finland was found to emit large amounts of beta-myrcene and very little ∆3-carene. A Scots pine in southeastern Finland also emitted only small amounts of ∆3-carene. It is confirmed that Scots pine is a low or insignificant isoprene emitter, while Norway spruce is a high isoprene emitter. While the floors of both Scots pine and Norway spruce forests emit terpenes and some light hydrocarbons, the flux is small in comparison to the flux from the tree needles. Low and wet parts of the Sphagnum fen have been found to emit significant amounts of isoprene and small amounts of terpenes and other light hydrocarbons. The raised and drier parts of the fen emit 20 to 30 times less isoprene. The areal emission of isoprene from wetlands can be as large or larger than the areal emission from spruce forests and thus contribute a significant amount of isoprene to the boreal atmosphere.