Determination of changes in biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from Pinus strobus exposed to soil pH and nitrogen differences

Background/Question/Methods Biogenic volatile organic compounds have important roles in the atmospheric chemistry of harmful pollutants and greenhouse gases. Understanding the environmental factors that influence BVOC emissions from plants is critical to elucidating the interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere. With soil treatments modeling the changes associated with acid rain and nitrogen deposition, both environmental problems for the boreal biome, this study explores the effects of both soil pH and nitrogen content on volatile compound emission in Pinus strobus. A tree enclosure custom chamber was built to interface solid phase micro extraction measurements with photosynthetic data from a LiCor6400 infrared gas analyzer. Emissions profiles for each treatment group have been acquired using gas chromatography coupled with single ion mass spectrometry.

Results/Conclusions Preliminary results show the emission of, β-pinene, β-myrcene and limonene among other yet to be identified terpenoid compounds, from all treatment groups, except for the low nitrogen / low pH group which shows the production of α-pinene β-myrcene and low concentrations of yet to be identified trace gasses. Changes in quantity and quality of these gasses may have implications for plant/insect and plant/plant interactions, as well as atmospheric chemistry.