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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1522606
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Ecophysiology: Responses to Climate Changes and Stress Conditions View all 15 articles

Interactions between leaf phenological type and functional traits drive variation in isoprene emissions in central Amazon forest trees

Provisionally accepted
Michelle Robin Michelle Robin 1*Christine Römermann Christine Römermann 2,3,4Ülo Niinemets Ülo Niinemets 5Jonathan Gershenzon Jonathan Gershenzon 6Jianbei Huang Jianbei Huang 1Bruce W Nelson Bruce W Nelson 7Tyeen C Taylor Tyeen C Taylor 8Vinícius Fernandes Souza Vinícius Fernandes Souza 5Davieliton Pinho Davieliton Pinho 7Lucas Falcão Lucas Falcão 9Caroline Lacerda Caroline Lacerda 9Sergio Duvoisin Jr. Sergio Duvoisin Jr. 9Axel Schmidt Axel Schmidt 6Eliane Gomes Alves Eliane Gomes Alves 1
  • 1 Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
  • 2 Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Thuringia, Germany
  • 3 German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 4 Senckenberg Institute for Plant Form and Function (SIP), Jena, Germany
  • 5 Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Tartu County, Estonia
  • 6 Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Thuringia, Germany
  • 7 National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
  • 8 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
  • 9 University of the State of Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Amazon forest is the largest source of isoprene emissions, and the seasonal pattern of leaf-out phenology in this forest has been indicated as an important driver of seasonal variation in emissions. Still, it is unclear how emissions vary between different leaf phenological types in this forest. To evaluate the influence of leaf phenological type over isoprene emissions, we measured leaf-level isoprene emission capacity and leaf functional traits for 175 trees from 124 species of angiosperms distributed among brevideciduous and evergreen trees in a central Amazon forest. Evergreen isoprene emitters were less likely to store monoterpenes and had tougher and less photosynthetically active leaves with higher carbon-to-nitrogen ratios compared to nonemitters. Isoprene emission rates in brevideciduous trees were higher with a higher diversity of stored sesquiterpenes and total phenolics content. Our results suggest that the way isoprene emissions relate to growth and defense traits in central Amazon trees might be influenced by leaf phenological type, and that isoprene may participate in co-regulating a chemical-mechanical defense trade-off between brevideciduous and evergreen trees. Such knowledge can be used to improve emission estimates based on leaf phenological type since, as a highly-emitted biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC), isoprene affects atmospheric processes with implications for the Earth's radiative balance.

    Keywords: Terpenes, phenolics, leaf traits, Amazon trees, biogenic volatile organic compounds, BVOCs

    Received: 04 Nov 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Robin, Römermann, Niinemets, Gershenzon, Huang, Nelson, Taylor, Souza, Pinho, Falcão, Lacerda, Duvoisin Jr., Schmidt and Gomes Alves. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Michelle Robin, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

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