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Title: Simulated changes in biogenic VOC emissions and ozone formation from habitat expansion of Acer Rubrum (red maple)

Journal Article · · Environmental Research Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division
  2. Univ. of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN (United States)
  3. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences
  4. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences
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A new vegetation trend is emerging in northeastern forests of the United States, characterized by an expansion of red maple at the expense of oak. This has changed emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), primarily isoprene and monoterpenes. Oaks strongly emit isoprene while red maple emits a negligible amount. This species shift may impact nearby urban centers because the interaction of isoprene with anthropogenic nitrogen oxides can lead to tropospheric ozone formation and monoterpenes can lead to the formation of particulate matter. Here in this study the Global Biosphere Emissions and Interactions System was used to estimate the spatial changes in BVOC emission fluxes resulting from a shift in forest composition between oak and maple. A 70% reduction in isoprene emissions occurred when oak was replaced with maple. Ozone simulations with a chemical box model at two rural and two urban sites showed modest reductions in ozone concentrations of up to 5–6 ppb resulting from a transition from oak to red maple, thus suggesting that the observed change in forest composition may benefit urban air quality. This study illustrates the importance of monitoring and representing changes in forest composition and the impacts to human health indirectly through changes in BVOCs.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; Univ. of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1396256
Journal Information:
Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 1; ISSN 1748-9326
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 9 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Biodiversity matters in feedbacks between climate change and air quality: a study using an individual-based model journal April 2018
Modeling emissions for three-dimensional atmospheric chemistry transport models journal May 2018

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Acer Rubrum
biogenic violatile organic compounds
isoprene
northeastern US forests
oak
ozone