Altered volatile emissions and incomplete photosynthetic recovery after heatwave-associated drought and rewetting in the woolly feather-moss Tomentypnum nitens.
- 1Department of Biology, Center for Volatile Interactions (VOLT), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark.
Abstract
Mosses dominate ground cover in many ecosystems and are central to carbon and nutrient cycling, water regulation, and surface energy balance. Their poikilohydric physiology, without stomatal control or vascular transport, couples metabolism closely to moisture. While climate extremes affecting moisture become more frequent, how drought and rewetting affect volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from mosses remains poorly understood. This study examined how a heatwave-associated drought and subsequent rewetting affected VOC emission rates and blend compositions in the moss Tomentypnum nitens. Subarctic heath mesocosms containing T. nitens were maintained in climate chambers during a pre drought period and exposed sequentially to a 3-week heatwave-associated drought, and 1 week rewetting treatment. Moss shoots detached from mesocosms were enclosed in a gas-exchange cuvette to measure VOC emissions analysed by GC-MS, net photosynthesis, and evaporation rates. Tissue water content was also determined. Drought strongly reduced water content and evaporation and shifted net photosynthesis from positive to negative values. Total VOC emissions declined by 90% in response to drought and recovered after rewetting (P = .06). Drought also shifted the VOC blend towards hydrocarbon dominance (nearly 80% of total). After rewetting, the blend contained a greater proportion of oxygenated VOCs and a smaller proportion of sesquiterpenes than before drought. The legacy effects of drought on VOC blend may influence both the ecological roles of moss VOCs and their contribution to biosphere-atmosphere interactions.
Related
- Low methane emissions following experimental bog rewetting
- Severe wildfire legacies suppress methane emissions after peatland rewetting
- Polypropylene microplastics modify copper associated leaf injury and photosynthetic responses in Nymphaea ‘Black Beauty’
- Drought and rewetting drive divergent microbial dynamics across soil compartments and reveal Trinickia as a key genus for soybean drought resilience
- Soil depth and tillage can characterize the soil microbial responses to drying-rewetting
BibTeX
@article{engroff2026altered,
title = {{Altered volatile emissions and incomplete photosynthetic recovery after heatwave-associated drought and rewetting in the woolly feather-moss Tomentypnum nitens.}},
author = {Annika Engroff and Marta Contreras-Serrano and Jing Tang and Riikka Rinnan},
journal = {AoB PLANTS},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/aobpla/plag054},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948282},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Altered volatile emissions and incomplete photosynthetic recovery after heatwave-associated drought and rewetting in the woolly feather-moss Tomentypnum nitens.
AU - Annika Engroff
AU - Marta Contreras-Serrano
AU - Jing Tang
AU - Riikka Rinnan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - AoB PLANTS
DO - 10.1093/aobpla/plag054
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948282
AB - Mosses dominate ground cover in many ecosystems and are central to carbon and nutrient cycling, water regulation, and surface energy balance. Their poikilohydric physiology, without stomatal control or vascular transport, couples metabolism closely to moisture. While climate extremes affecting moisture become more frequent, how drought and rewetting affect volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from mosses remains poorly understood. This study examined how a heatwave-associated drought and subsequent rewetting affected VOC emission rates and blend compositions in the moss Tomentypnum nitens. Subarctic heath mesocosms containing T. nitens were maintained in climate chambers during a pre drought period and exposed sequentially to a 3-week heatwave-associated drought, and 1 week rewetting treatment. Moss shoots detached from mesocosms were enclosed in a gas-exchange cuvette to measure VOC emissions analysed by GC-MS, net photosynthesis, and evaporation rates. Tissue water content was also determined. Drought strongly reduced water content and evaporation and shifted net photosynthesis from positive to negative values. Total VOC emissions declined by 90% in response to drought and recovered after rewetting (P = .06). Drought also shifted the VOC blend towards hydrocarbon dominance (nearly 80% of total). After rewetting, the blend contained a greater proportion of oxygenated VOCs and a smaller proportion of sesquiterpenes than before drought. The legacy effects of drought on VOC blend may influence both the ecological roles of moss VOCs and their contribution to biosphere-atmosphere interactions.
SN - 2041-2851
ER -