Forest Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds: From Tree Physiology to Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Feedbacks

Forests are the dominant global source of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), which regulate atmospheric oxidation, ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation, and in turn feed back on forest functioning, climate and ecosystem resilience. How forest BVOC emissions respond to climate change, land-use change, drought, heat, fire and other stressors remains a major uncertainty in Earth system science. This Research Topic provides an interdisciplinary platform for observational, experimental and modelling studies that link forest BVOC emissions and their atmospheric transformation to consequences for forests and global change. Studies on other vegetation types are welcome where they provide direct mechanistic or comparative insights relevant to forest–atmosphere interactions.BVOCs including isoprene, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are central to biosphere–atmosphere interactions in forest ecosystems. Their emissions are regulated by tree species, stand structure and phenology, and by a wide range of environmental stresses — drought, heat, elevated CO₂, ozone, herbivory, pathogens and other biotic and abiotic pressures — that also signal the physiological state of the vegetation. Understanding the biological and ecophysiological controls on these emissions is central to predicting how forests will respond to a changing environment. Advances in flux measurement, analytical chemistry, remote sensing and Earth system modelling now allow these processes to be resolved across temperate, boreal, tropical and other forested landscapes, and to be connected to the wider drivers of global change.We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Methods, Perspectives and Mini Reviews that keep forests and global change central, addressing: the biological and ecophysiological regulation of forest BVOC emissions, including responses to drought, heat, elevated CO₂, ozone, herbivory, pathogens and other environmental stresses; the influence of climate change, fire and land-use change on emissions; atmospheric oxidation, ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation of forest origin, explicitly linked to forest ecosystems and global change; biosphere–atmosphere feedbacks and their implications for forest ecosystem resilience, climate and air quality; and supporting field observations, flux measurements, laboratory experiments, remote sensing and modelling from stand to global scales. Topic editors: Abhinandan Ghosh, Abhijit Chatterjee, Pavan K Nagar, Monami Dutta, Junling Li Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85007/forest-biogenic-volatile-organic-compounds-from-tree-physiology-to-atmospheric-chemistry-and-climate-feedbacks