Environmental controls of biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from a grazed grassland in Dorinne, Belgium

Despite the growing interest for oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOC) over the last 15 years due to their role in the atmospheric chemistry, current knowledge about OVOC exchanges by grassland and the environmental factors driving them still entails gaps. However, those ecosystems represent an important part of the total earth surface (13.37%). This study conducted on a grazed grassland therefore aims to quantify OVOC exchanges over full grazing seasons in order to understand the mechanisms behind these OVOC exchanges. The Eddy Covariance method was used for flux quantification, with a PTR-MS for the measurements of OVOCs mixing ratios. It took place within the activities of the CROSTVOC project (CROp Stress VOC) and therefore gives an important attention to the stress induced fluxes. BVOC flux measurements were also performed on a smaller scale by using all-teflon automated dynamic chambers covering a surface of 0.1 m² each.