Biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions from forested areas in Turkey: Determination of specific emission rates for thirty-one tree species Yagmur Meltem Aydin a , Baris Yaman a , Husnu Koca a , Okan Dasdemir a , Melik Kara a , Hasan Altiok a , Yetkin Dumanoglu a , Abdurrahman Bayram a , Doganay Tolunay b , Mustafa Odabasi a , Tolga Elbir a, ⁎ a Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Tinaztepe Campus, Buca, Izmir, Turkey b Department of Soil Science and Ecology, Faculty of Forestry, Istanbul University, Bahcekoy, Istanbul, Turkey HIGHLIGHTS • BVOC emissions of 31 tree species were characterized for the first time in Turkey. • Isoprene and monoterpenes were predominant compounds for all species. • Isoprene was the prominent compound for broad-leaved species. • Coniferous species emitted predominantly monoterpenes. abstract article info Article history: Received 19 December 2013 Received in revised form 10 April 2014 Accepted 30 April 2014 Available online xxxx Editor: Pavlos Kassomenos Keywords: BVOC emission Dynamic enclosure system Forested area Turkey Normalized biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emission rates for thirty one tree species that cover the 98% of national forested areas in Turkey were determined. Field samplings were performed at fourteen different forested areas in Turkey using a specific dynamic enclosure system. The selected branches of tree species were enclosed in a chamber consisted of a transparent Nalofan bag. The air-flows were sampled from both inlet and outlet of the chamber by Tenax-filled sorbent tubes during photosynthesis of trees under the presence of sunlight. Several environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, photosynthetically active radiation-PAR, and CO 2 ) were continuously monitored inside and outside the enclosure chamber during the samplings. Collected samples were analyzed using a gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) system equipped with a thermal desorber (TD). Sixty five BVOCs classified in five major groups (isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and other oxygenated compounds) were analyzed. Emission rates were determined by normalization to standard conditions (1000 μmol/m 2 s PAR and 30 °C temperature for isoprene and 30 °C temperature for the remaining compounds). In agreement with the literature, isoprene was mostly emitted by broad-leaved trees while coniferous species mainly emitted monoterpenes. Several tree species such as Sweet Chestnut, Silver Lime, and European Alder had higher monoterpene emissions although they are broad-leaved species. High isoprene emissions were also observed for a few coniferous species such as Nordmann Fir and Oriental Spruce. The highest normalized total BVOC emission rate of 27.1 μg/g h was observed for Oriental Plane while South European Flowering Ash was the weakest BVOC emitter with a total normalized emission rate of 0.031 μg/g h. Monoterpene emissions of broad-leaved species mainly consisted of sabinene, limonene and trans-beta-ocimene, while alpha-pinene, beta-pinene and beta-myrcene were generally emitted by coniferous species. Oxygenated compounds were the third most prominent BVOC group and sesquiterpenes had slightly lower contributions. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction It is broadly emphasized that biological processes in ecosystems dramatically affect the atmosphere and climate of earth (Penuelas et al., 2009; Penuelas and Staudt, 2010). Many researchers have investi- gated these mechanisms and indicated that organic compounds and CO 2 are exchanged continuously between atmosphere and biosphere (Laothawornkitkul et al., 2009). Most of these organic compounds are volatile and specifically categorized as biogenic volatile organic com- pounds (BVOCs) since they arise from biosynthetic activities of plants. Vegetation is the most important source of BVOCs. Several studies Science of the Total Environment 490 (2014) 239–253 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 232 3017133; fax: +90 232 4530922. E-mail address: tolga.elbir@deu.edu.tr (T. Elbir). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.132 0048-9697/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv