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| Titel |
Different response of bulk and n-alkane δ¹³C signatures to seasonal shifts in environmental conditions in a temperate coastal ecosystem |
| VerfasserIn |
Yvette Eley, Nikolai Pedentchouk, Lorna Dawson |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2014
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 16 (2014) |
| Datensatznummer |
250094065
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2014-9399.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The carbon isotope signal recorded in land plants represents an important reservoir of
information for reconstructing climatically driven shifts in plant ecophysiology and
biochemistry. Analytical advances have led to widespread usage of compound-specific (CS)
carbon isotope analysis of leaf wax biomarkers, such as n-alkanes, in addition to traditional
bulk isotope methods, to identify shifts in the relative percentage of C3 and C4 vegetation
contributing to the sedimentary record. Recent studies, however, have extended the
application of leaf wax biomarkers, using bulk and n-alkane δ13C values interchangeably to
derive information about plant-environment relations, both in modern ecosystems and
throughout the geological past. Even though previous work on C3 plants has shown a
clear link between climatically influenced plant physiology and bulk δ13C values,
further research is needed to establish whether the same link can be seen in leaf wax
biomarkers.
To address this question, we collected bulk and n-alkane δ13C data from plants growing
at Stiffkey marsh on the north Norfolk coast, UK over a period of 15 months. Maximum
interspecies variation in weighted average (WA) n-alkane δ13C among C3 species was
typically 2-3ogreater than in bulk. We observed a close correlation in the bulk and WA
n-alkane δ13C seasonal trends from C3 grasses and reeds (R2=0.9, P |
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