Understanding the role of understory terpenoid emissions: The Bracken Fern story

Most biogenic emissions studies have been made based on the fact that the canopy biomass is greater than the understory biomass. Herbaceous species - like Bracken Fern- have not been taking in consideration despite the fact that other disciplines like chemical ecology have showed that those species contain a significant amount of compounds - like terpenoid compounds- that if emitted to the atmosphere, would influence the results of actual atmospheric models. This work will show the results of measurements of terpenoid fluxes from Bracken in the area of Pellston, Michigan. The case of Pteridium is a special case because it can be found in open areas as well as in the understory. This gave us the opportunity to investigate not only the contribution of an understory species to forest emissions, but it also gave us the opportunity to study landscape structure as a factor that could affect terpenoid emissions.