Fluxes of oxygenated volatile organic compounds from a ponderosa pine plantation

Abstract

We present the first canopy‐scale, continuous, long‐term flux measurements of a suite of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs). Fluxes were measured above a ponderosa pine plantation, adjacent to the Blodgett Forest Research Station (38°53′42.9″N, 120°37′57.9″W, 1315 m elevation), with a fully automated relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) system coupled to a dual GC‐FID system. Quantified OVOCs included 2‐methyl‐3‐buten‐2‐ol (MBO), methanol, ethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone. These compounds were the most abundant nonmethane VOCs at this site and were highly correlated with each other, especially during daytime. Fluxes were dominated by MBO and methanol with daytime average emissions of ∼1.3 mg C m−2 h−1. Ethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone fluxes were approximately a factor of 5 lower. All fluxes showed diurnal cycles with maxima around noon and minima at night. Temperature and light were the main drivers for MBO emission, and the canopy level flux responses were virtually identical with previously measured leaf level fluxes from ponderosa pine trees at the same site. Ambient temperature appeared to be the most important driver of the other OVOC fluxes, but moisture also played a role, particularly for ethanol and acetone emissions, shown for the first time under field conditions. Soil and litter emissions, measured using a Pyrex glass chamber, contributed significantly to the canopy level fluxes of methanol, acetaldehyde, and acetone, and had a much smaller contribution to the canopy fluxes of ethanol. If the magnitude of these OVOC fluxes is similar in other ecosystems, they will have to be considered a major volatile organic compound emission to the atmosphere and a potentially significant carbon loss from the biosphere.