Biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and deposited secondary organic material (SOM) are formed by oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants. Many SOA compounds have much longer chemical lifetimes than the original VOC, and may accumulate on plant surfaces and in soil as SOM because of their low volatility. This suggests that they may have important and presently unrecognized roles in plant adaptation. Using reactive plant terpenoids as a model we propose a three-tier (atmosphere–vegetation–soil) framework to better understand the ecological and evolutionary functions of SOM. In this framework, SOA in the atmosphere is known to affect solar radiation, SOM on the plant surfaces influences the interactive organisms, and wet and dry deposition of SOM on soil affects soil organisms.

生物成因的二级有机气溶胶（SOA）和沉积的二级有机材料（SOM）是由植物排放的挥发性有机化合物（VOC）氧化而形成的。许多SOA化合物的化学寿命比原始的VOC长得多，并且由于挥发性低，因此可能以SOM的形式在植物表面和土壤中积累。这表明它们在植物适应中可能具有重要且目前尚未被认识的作用。使用反应性植物类萜作为模型，我们提出了一个三层（大气-植被-土壤）框架，以更好地了解SOM的生态和进化功能。在这种框架下，已知大气中的SOA会影响太阳辐射，植物表面的SOM影响相互作用的生物，土壤中SOM的干湿沉积会影响土壤生物。