Wildfire Smoke Directly Changes Biogenic Volatile Organic Emissions and Photosynthesis of Ponderosa Pines

Abstract

Abstract Wildfires are increasing across the USA. While smoke events affect human exposure and air quality, wildfire smoke effects on ecosystem‐atmosphere interactions are poorly understood. We investigate smoke effects on biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and photosynthesis for ponderosa pines. During several wildfire smoke events, we observed photosynthetic reduction with evidence for stomatal plugging and changes in leaf‐level uptake and emission of both biogenic and wildfire VOCs. During intense smoke events, photosynthesis and VOC emissions were almost entirely suppressed, but increased dramatically upon stomatal opening. We propose four types of VOC responses to this burst in stomatal opening: post‐burst emissions, pulsed emissions, surge emissions, and post‐burst uptake. Our observations suggest that wildfire smoke can affect plant physiology and leaf‐atmosphere gas exchange.

Keywords

• wildfire smoke
• stomatal conductance
• photosynthesis
• volatile organic compounds
• emission
• plant stress