Subarctic warming still boosts plant VOC emissions
After 13 years, +2°C open-top chambers raised subarctic heath sesquiterpenes fivefold and roughly doubled isoprene and monoterpenes, with vegetation shifts helping drive the fluxes.
Source
Climate change-induced vegetation change as a driver of increased subarctic biogenic volatile organic compound emissions
What they did
On a subarctic heath, authors measured BVOCs from plots warmed ~2°C with open-top tents, with/without extra litter, using adsorbent tubes and GC, relating emissions to cover of shrubs, forbs, mosses, and lichens (n=6 plots).
What they found
Warming remained effective after 13 years. Sesquiterpenes rose 5-fold (P=0.006); 2010-average isoprene 1.9× (P=0.003) and monoterpenes 2× (P=0.019). Combined warming+litter increased deciduous and evergreen shrub cover in 2010; forbs increased under warming by 2012. Chamber air during measurements was only +0.5°C.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Tents warm air/soil modestly and alter wind. n=6 is small. Emissions are plot-scale, not a regional atmospheric model, and 2012 vegetation differences were weaker than 2010.
Key terms
- BVOC
- Biogenic volatile organic compounds emitted by plants and soils, including isoprene, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes.
- Open-top chamber
- A plastic tent that passively warms plots (~2°C air, 1–2°C soil here).
- Sesquiterpenes (SQT)
- C15 volatiles that showed the largest (5-fold) warming response.
- Isoprene
- C5H8, the most studied BVOC; here increased 1.9× with warming in 2010.
- Litter addition
- A treatment mimicking extra plant litter under climate change, interacting with warming.
Flashcards
Research intelligence for this paper
See its role on concept claims, tensions it is part of, placement history, and related discoveries.
Quiz yourself
After 13 years, experimental warming:
Common questions
Did plants acclimate so emissions returned to ambient?
No. Warming effects remained strong after 13 years.
Which compound class changed most?
Sesquiterpenes, up fivefold.
Is the extra flux only a hot-chamber artifact?
Unlikely: measurement chambers were only 0.5°C warmer, and vegetation cover also changed.
Did litter always add to warming?
Not simply; some dates showed warming×litter interactions in opposite directions.
More on Climate impacts