• Energy Research

SignificancePlants release to the atmosphere reactive gases, so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The release of VOCs from vegetation is temperature-dependent and controlled by vegetation composition because different plant species release a distinct blend of VOCs. We used modelling approaches on ecosystem VOC release data collected across the Arctic, which is experiencing both rapid warming and vegetation changes. We show that warming strongly stimulates release of plant-derived VOCs and that vegetation changes also increase VOC release, albeit less than temperature directly, and with large geographic differences in the Pan-Arctic area. The increasing VOC flux from the Arctic tundra to the atmosphere may have implications via climate feedbacks, for example, through particle and cloud formation in these regions with low anthropogenic influence.