Monoterpene emissions from ornamental trees in urban areas: a case study of Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

Research on biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions has mainly focused on native species in natural ecosystems. However, much of the ozone and aerosol formation occurs in city atmospheres due to BVOC emissions by local urban vegetation. Plant composition of urban habitats is often dominated by non‐native ornamental plant species, for which only limited data on BVOC emissions are available. To gain insight into the influence of ornamental vegetation on the urban atmospheric reactivity in Barcelona, Spain, we studied volatile isoprenoid emissions in 11 widespread ornamental tree species (three conifers and nine angiosperms). We found significant monoterpene emissions in all studied species, with normalized emission potentials (T = 30 °C, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) = 1000 μmol·m−2·s−1) ranging between 0.2 to 110 μg·g−1 (dry weight) h−1. Depending on species, the emissions were dominated by α‐ and β‐pinene, myrcene, α‐ and β‐phellandrene, carene, limonene and eucalyptol. These data demonstrate that ornamental plants may significantly contribute to the BVOC load in urban atmospheres and also underscore the importance of broadleaf angiosperms as significant monoterpene emitters.

Urban ecosystem services: tree diversity and stability of tropospheric ozone removal

“…On the other hand, urban trees may be also associated to ''ecosystem disservices,'' such as emissions of volatile organic compound (Escobedo et al 2011). Varying amounts of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are emitted by different trees (Guenther 1997, Kesselmeier andStaudt 1999), which, in combination with NO x , could have a negative impact on ozone formation (Owen et al 2003, Noe et al 2008. In Rome, evergreen broadleaves include both strong and medium monoterpene emitters (like Quercus ilex and Q. suber, respectively), deciduous broadleaves include both species with negligible VOC emissions (Q. cerris) and medium isoprene emitters (Platanus x acerifolia, Robinia pseudoacacia), while conifers are dominated by the medium monoterpene emitter Pinus pinea (Loreto 2002, Loreto et al 2004, Calfapietra et al 2009, Steinbrecher et al 2009).…”

Development of PTR-MS selectivity for structural isomers: Monoterpenes as a case study

“…For a fixed drift tube pressure and temperature the ratio E/N is directly proportional to the drift voltage (U d ). Monoterpene concentrations, expressed as a total sum of isomers, have been shown to be measurable reliably by PTR-MS [1][2][3]4]. The sensitivity of the technique is dependent on the ambient humidity [5,6] and drift tube conditions, which regulate the proportion of signal at m/z 81 and m/z 137.…”

Aerosol Impact on Cultural Heritage: Deterioration Processes and Strategies for Preventive Conservation

“…Here biological particles are involved in atmospheric precipitation and climate due to their optical properties and because they act as ice nuclei (IN) or cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) (Rantio-Lehtimäiki, 1994;Després et al, 2012). Moreover, a number of authors have noted that biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) attributable to emission by local urban vegetation determine the abundant ozone and aerosol formation in the urban atmosphere that contributes to climate change (Kanakidou et al, 2005;Noe, Penuelas, and Niinemets, 2008;Calfapietra et al, 2013).…”