Soil Uptake of Volatile Organic Compounds: Ubiquitous and Underestimated?

Abstract

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from ecosystems to the atmosphere have been widely studied, and the importance of soil contributions to VOC fluxes has received increasing attention. We suggest that while soil VOC emissions may be important in some situations, soil uptake of VOCs by microbial degradation is likely an omnipresent process, as also recently suggested by Trowbridge et al. (2020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005479). To be able to model net VOC fluxes, we need to be able to estimate both soil release and uptake processes and their drivers.

Extended Plant Metarhizobiome: Understanding Volatile Organic Compound Signaling in Plant-Microbe Metapopulation Networks

“…The microbial activity and plant roots are the main sources of VOCs in the soil ( 14 , 19 ). Additionally, uptake of VOCs from the atmosphere, degradation of organic material, and application of organic fertilizers and irrigation contribute to the soil VOC pool ( 25 , 26 ). Soils can also retain VOCs, and the patterns of adsorption and desorption depend on the type of VOCs and soil properties ( 27 , 28 ).…”

“…Furthermore, VOC desorption tends to peak during periods of high temperatures and low moisture, suggesting that compounds accumulated during the winter may be released later in the summer, even after the sources of VOC emission have long vanished ( 31 ). Further, VOCs can escape to the atmosphere ( 32 ), bind to organic matter and mineral surfaces ( 33 ), undergo biotic and abiotic degradation ( 25 , 26 ), dissolve in soil water solution ( 34 ) and get trapped in macro- and micropores in the soil ( 29 ); Fig. 1B ).…”

Molecular Ecology of Isoprene-Degrading Bacteria

“…Other environments that have been reported to house isoprene-producing organisms, but remain relatively unexplored, e.g., marine and freshwater environments, wetlands, or mosses [33,[89][90][91], also need to be surveyed with a multidisciplinary approach, including flux measurements and molecular ecology techniques, to inform global models of isoprene cycling. In particular, production and consumption should be teased apart by using 13 C-labelled isoprene [92]. Diurnal and seasonal isoprene flux measurements and transcript analyses will provide a more complete picture of environments as isoprene sources or sinks, and how production and consumption are influenced by environmental parameters.…”

Volatilome of Aleppo Pine litter over decomposition process

“…However, this is a preliminary study performed without soil and at 30°C, while BVOC emission measurements using litter on soil would probably result in lower emission rates since soil is a sink of BVOC (Chaignaud et al, 2018;Paulot et al, 2011;Rinnan & Albers, 2020). Lower temperatures would also probably diminish the emission rates but extend the emission period (Greenberg et al, 2012;Grote & Niinemets, 2008…”