BETA-FOR_SP2_volatile_organic_compounds_TenaxCarboxenTrap_2023_v2

This dataset contains volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements collected throughout July 2023 from the centers of 234 BETA-FOR forest patches. VOCs were sampled at 1 m height (A) and on the forest floor (B) using conditioned quartz glass tubes (15 mm × 1.9 mm inner diameter) filled with Tenax and Carboxen (1.5 mg each) and held in place with glass wool. Tubes were connected to a battery-powered DC pump (Fürgut, Tannheim, Germany) that drew forest air through at 1.1 L/min for 30 minutes. VOCs were analyzed via thermal desorption (TD100-xr, Markes, Offenbach am Main, Germany) coupled to a GC/MS (Agilent 7890B GC and 5977 MS, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, USA) equipped with an HP-5MS UI capillary column, using helium as the carrier gas at a constant pressure of 1 bar. Methods were adapted from Otieno et al. (2023) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283480. Raw data were then integrated using Agilent MassHunter and aligned with GCalignR https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198311, resulting in the peak, mean_retention_time, and peak_area columns.