NEW BIOGENIC VOC EMISSIONS MODEL
Impact/Purpose:
Many past studies have shown that the
emission of volatile organic compounds from forest ecosystems cause an increase
in air pollution,
particularly that involving tropospheric ozone, nitrogen oxides and acid deposition,
in near-urban and suburban areas. Current air pollution models used by the
U.S.E.P.A. to predict these effects lack fundamental insight into the biochemical
mechanisms in plants that produce these compounds. Consequently, it is not
possible to accurately predict whether the emission of these compounds and
their influence on air quality will change if the climate of the earth or the
atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide changes in the future. Both climate
change and an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide are predicted to occur
in the next century. We intend to conduct experiments to elucidate the biochemical
processes that cause the emission of these compounds and describe their response
to temperature and carbon dioxide change. We will focus our studies on the
emission of isoprene and acetaldehyde, two of the most commonly-emitted compounds
from US forests. Our studies will bring modern techniques in biochemistry and
molecular biology to the study of forests and their effects on regional air
quality.
Description:
We intend to develop new prognostic models for
the prediction of biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from forest
ecosystems in the
face of possible future changes in the climate and the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. These models will be based on actual biochemical
mechanisms and will thus be more accurate than existing models which lack insight
into the fundamental biochemical function of plants.
Record Details:
Record Type:PROJECT(
ABSTRACT
)
Start Date:01/01/2004
Completion Date:12/31/2006
Record ID:
79883
Keywords:
RISK ASSESSMENT, ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS, OXIDANTS, TERRESTRIAL.,
Related Organizations:
Role
:OWNER
Organization Name
:UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO - BOULDER
Mailing Address
:Campus Box 17
Citation
:Boulder
State
:CO
Zip Code
:80309
Project Information:
Approach
:We will grow forest trees in artificial growth chambers
with programmed regimes of temperature and carbon dioxide in order to test
our hypotheses that
changes in the activity of a few key enzymes (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase,
isoprene synthase and pyruvate kinase) and the density of mitochondria in
leaf cells, cause the greatest changes in isoprene emission and acetaldehyde
emission
from forest trees. We will conduct biochemical assays of these enzymes and
make electron microscope observations of mitochondrial density in order to
measure these effects. We will work with research groups at the University
of Wisconsin, Texas A&M University, the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee,
and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington to make measurements on trees
already growing in experimental treatments of elevated carbon dioxide concentration
and elevated temperature. These latter experiments are part of the Department
of Energy's experiments on plants in Free Air Carbon Exchange (FACE) rings.
Cost
:$644,044.00
Research Component
:Global Climate Change
Approach
:
We will grow forest trees in artificial growth chambers
with programmed regimes of temperature and carbon dioxide in order to test
our hypotheses that
changes in the activity of a few key enzymes (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase,
isoprene synthase and pyruvate kinase) and the density of mitochondria in
leaf cells, cause the greatest changes in isoprene emission and acetaldehyde
emission
from forest trees. We will conduct biochemical assays of these enzymes and
make electron microscope observations of mitochondrial density in order to
measure these effects. We will work with research groups at the University
of Wisconsin, Texas A&M University, the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee,
and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington to make measurements on trees
already growing in experimental treatments of elevated carbon dioxide concentration
and elevated temperature. These latter experiments are part of the Department
of Energy's experiments on plants in Free Air Carbon Exchange (FACE) rings.
Cost
:$644,044.00
Research Component
:Air Quality and Air Toxics
Project IDs:
ID Code
:R831453
Project type
:EPA Grant