Forest thinning experiment confirms ozone deposition to forest canopy is dominated by reaction with biogenic VOCs

Abstract

Ecosystem ozone uptake can occur through stomatal and surface deposition and through gas phase chemical reactions. In a California pine forest, thinning dramatically enhanced both monoterpene emission and ozone uptake. These simultaneous enhancements provide strong evidence that ozone reactions with unmeasured biogenically emitted volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) dominate ozone uptake, and these unmeasured BVOC emissions are approximately 10 times the measured monoterpene flux. Branch enclosure measurements confirm more than 100 BVOCs are emitted but not typically observed above the forest. These BVOCs likely impact tropospheric composition as a previously unquantified source of secondary oxygenated VOCs, organic aerosols, and OH radicals.