Wildfire effects on BVOC emissions from boreal forest floor on permafrost soil in Siberia

Huizhong Zhang-Turpeinen; Minna Kivimäenpää; Heidi Aaltonen; Frank Berninger; Egle Köster; Kajar Köster; Oleg Menyailo; Anatoly Prokushkin; Jukka Pumpanen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134851

Wildfire effects on BVOC emissions from boreal forest floor on permafrost soil in Siberia

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Apr 1:711:134851. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134851. Epub 2019 Nov 20.

Authors

Huizhong Zhang-Turpeinen¹, Minna Kivimäenpää², Heidi Aaltonen³, Frank Berninger⁴, Egle Köster⁵, Kajar Köster⁵, Oleg Menyailo⁶, Anatoly Prokushkin⁶, Jukka Pumpanen²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, P.O.Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland, Finland. Electronic address: huizhong.zhang@uef.fi.
² Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, P.O.Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland, Finland.
³ Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, P.O.Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, University of Eastern Finland, Finland.
⁵ Department of Forest Sciences, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Finland; Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/ Forest sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Russia.

PMID: 32000328
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134851

Abstract

One of the effects of climate change on boreal forest will be more frequent forest wildfires and permafrost thawing. These will increase the availability of soil organic matter (SOM) for microorganisms, change the ground vegetation composition and ultimately affect the emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), which impact atmospheric chemistry and climate. BVOC emissions from boreal forest floor have been little characterized in southern boreal region, and even less so in permafrost soil, which underlies most of the northern boreal region. Here, we report the long-term effects of wildfire on forest floor BVOC emission rates along a wildfire chronosequence in a Larix gmelinii forest in central Siberia. We determined forest floor BVOC emissions from forests exposed to wildfire 1, 23 and > 100 years ago. We studied how forest wildfires and the subsequent succession of ground vegetation, as well as changes in the availability of SOM along with the deepened and recovered active layer, influence BVOC emission rates. The forest floor acted as source of a large number of BVOCs in all forest age classes. Monoterpenes were the most abundant BVOC group in all age classes. The total BVOC emission rates measured from the 23- and >100-year-old areas were ca. 2.6 times higher than the emissions from the 1-year-old area. Lower emissions were related to a decrease in plant coverage and microbial decomposition of SOM after wildfire. Our results showed that forest wildfires play an important indirect role in regulating the amount and composition of BVOC emissions from post-fire originated boreal forest floor. This could have a substantial effect on BVOC emissions if the frequency of forest wildfires increases in the future as a result of climate warming.

Keywords: BVOC emissions; Forest floor; Forest succession; Ground vegetation changes; Permafrost soil; Wildfire.

MeSH terms

Permafrost*
Siberia
Taiga
Volatile Organic Compounds
Wildfires*

Substances

Volatile Organic Compounds