Contributions of biogenic volatile organic compounds to net ecosystem carbon flux

When assessing net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and carbon storage, respiration is assumed to be the only significant loss of carbon to the atmosphere. Carbon is also emitted from ecosystems in the form of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). Due to recent analytical advancement, an increasing number of BVOCs are being identified and quantified. The analysis presented here quantifies the contribution of BVOCs to NEE and gross primary productivity (GPP) for Blodgett Forest. We find that BVOCs contribute an additional 10.1 gCm-2 to the annual ecosystem respiration of 1256 gCm-2 (0.804% of the annual respiration). Neglecting this loss of carbon causes a 4% overestimate of the NEE for the rapidly growing ponderosa pine plantation at Blodgett Forest. For ecosystems that are not storing carbon as rapidly, BVOC emission should cause a larger error in the determination of NEE.