Sensitivity of terpene emissions to drought and fertilization in terpene‐storing Pinus halepensis and non‐storing Quercus ilex

Abstract

We studied the effects of water stress, fertilization and time course on foliar volatile terpene emission rates by Quercus ilex and Pinus halepensis in a garden experiment. The terpenes mostly emitted by both species were alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, beta-myrcene and Delta(3)-carene. P. halepensis emission rates (average 31.45 microg g(-1) DM h(-1)) were similar to those of Q. ilex (average 31.71 microg g(-1) DM h(-1)). The effects of drought (reduction to one-third of full watering) and fertilization (250 kg N ha(-1), 250 kg P ha(-1), or both) were different depending on the species: the drought treatment significantly increased the terpene emissions from Q. ilex by 33%, and the fertilization treatments reduced the terpene emissions from P. halepensis by 38%. Terpene emission rates increased with time course in parallel to raising summer temperatures in P. halepensis and Q. ilex, whose emission rates were temperature related (r = 0.42 and r = 0.68, respectively) and light related (r = 0.32 and r = 0.57, respectively). There was a positive relationship for P. halepensis, and a negative relationship for Q. ilex, between emission rates and relative water contents. No relationship was found between emission rates and N or P foliar concentrations. The results of this study show complex species-specific responses with stronger and faster short-term responses in terpene-non-storing than in storing species and indicate that terpene emissions may significantly change in the warmer, drier and more fertilized conditions predicted for the next decades in the Mediterranean region.