Climate extremes in tandem with biodiversity change affect emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) from plants and, as a result, the formation of biogenic secondary organic aerosols (BSOA). The resulting BSOA can have a wide variety of impacts, such as on Earth′s radiative balance and cloud formation. However, it is unclear to what extent changes in BVOC emissions and BSOA formation are related to biodiversity. Here we present a conceptual framework of the relationships between biodiversity and BVOC emissions based on our current mechanistic understanding and existing knowledge. We tested parts of this framework using a tree diversity experiment as a case-study. We find that the amount of BVOCs in most cases decreases with biodiversity, implying that tree mixtures produce less than expected BVOC compared to tree monocultures. However, some BSOA compounds increased and some decreased relative to what is expected from monocultures. Based on these mixed results, we recommend further field measurements on the patterns of BVOC emission and BSOA formation across biodiversity gradients to improve our understanding and accuracy of the amounts of the compounds emitted. Future studies need a multidisciplinary approach to open a new research nexus where the fields of climate science, biology and atmospheric chemistry interact.