Cryptogamic organisms are a substantial source and sink for volatile organic compounds in the Amazon region
Pfannerstill, Eva Y.
Pires Florentino, Ana Paula
Barbosa, Cybelli G. G.
Rodriguez-Caballero, Emilio
Zannoni, Nora
Alves, Rodrigo P.
Wolff, Stefan
Tsokankunku, Anywhere
Aptroot, André
de Oliveira Sá, Marta
de Araújo, Alessandro C.
Sörgel, Matthias
de Oliveira, Sylvia Mota
Weber, Bettina
Williams, Jonathan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00328-y
Persistent URL: http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/11305
Pfannerstill, Eva Y.; Atmospheric Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Pires Florentino, Ana Paula; Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
Barbosa, Cybelli G. G.; Atmospheric Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Rodriguez-Caballero, Emilio; Centro de Investigación de Colecciones Científicas de la Universidad de Almería (CECOUAL), Almería, Spain
Zannoni, Nora; Atmospheric Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Alves, Rodrigo P.; Institute for Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Wolff, Stefan; Atmospheric Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Tsokankunku, Anywhere; Atmospheric Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Aptroot, André; Laboratório de Botânica/Liquenologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Avenida Costa e Silva s/n, Bairro Universitário, Campo Grande, Brazil
de Oliveira Sá, Marta; Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
de Araújo, Alessandro C.; Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa) Amazonia Oriental, Belém, Brazil
Sörgel, Matthias; Atmospheric Chemistry and Multiphase Chemistry Departments, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
de Oliveira, Sylvia Mota; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Postbus 9517, Leiden, The Netherlands
Weber, Bettina; Institute for Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Williams, Jonathan; Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
Abstract
Cryptogamic organisms such as bryophytes and lichens cover most surfaces within tropical forests, yet their impact on the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds is unknown. These compounds can strongly influence atmospheric oxidant levels as well as secondary organic aerosol concentrations, and forest canopy leaves have been considered the dominant source of these emissions. Here we present cuvette flux measurements, made in the Amazon rainforest between 2016–2018, and show that common bryophytes emit large quantities of highly reactive sesquiterpenoids and that widespread lichens strongly uptake atmospheric oxidation products. A spatial upscaling approach revealed that cryptogamic organisms emit sesquiterpenoids in quantities comparable to current canopy attributed estimates, and take up atmospheric oxidation products at rates comparable to hydroxyl radical chemistry. We conclude that cryptogamic organisms play an important and hitherto overlooked role in atmospheric chemistry above and within tropical rainforests.
Cryptogamic organisms such as bryophytes and lichens contribute substantially to emissions of secondary organic aerosol precursors as well as to the uptake of atmospheric oxidation products over the Amazon rainforest, suggest measurements at a remote Amazon rainforest site.