Abstract
Oxidative stress from ozone (O(3)) causes plants to alter their emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) and their photosynthetic rate. Stress reactions from O(3) on birch trees can result in prohibited plant growth and lead to increased BVOC emission rates as well as changes in their compound blend to emit more monoterpenes (MT) and sesquiterpenes (SQT). BVOCs take part in atmospheric reactions such as enhancing the production of secondary organic aerosols (SOA). As the compound blend and emission rate change with O(3) stress, this can influence the atmospheric conditions by affecting the production of SOA. Studying the stress responses of plants provides important information on how these reactions might change, which is vital to making better predictions of the future climate. In this study, measurements were taken to find out how the leaves of mature mountain birch trees (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) respond to different levels of elevated O(3) exposure in situ depending on leaf age. We found that leaves from both early and late summers responded with induced SQT emission after exposure to 120 ppb O(3). Early leaves were, however, more sensitive to increased O(3) concentrations, with enhanced emission of green leaf volatiles (GLV) and tendencies of both induced leaf senescence as well as poor recovery in the photosynthetic rate between exposures. Late leaves had more stable photosynthetic rates throughout the experiment and responded less to exposure at different O(3) levels.