Carbon isotopic composition of leaf wax n-alkanes in mangrove plants along a latitudinal gradient in Brazil

Ceccopieri, Milena; Scofield, Arthur de L.; Almeida, Lilian; Araújo, Michelle P.; Hamacher, Claudia; Farias, Cassia O.; Soares, Mário Luiz Gomes; Carreira, Renato S.; Wagener, Angela L.R.

doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2021.104299

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Other studies involving vascular plants in wetland environments generally report lower (less Yang et al, 2011) and substantially lower values (−95‰) from three high altitude sites along a latitudinal gradient in inner China (Duan and He, 2011). This is a reminder that, although wetland helophytes (particularly C 3 graminoids) appear to tend toward a stable net fractionation value, other factors such as, for example, higher latitude effects on seasonality and growing season (Yang et al, 2011;Daniels et al, 2017;Balascio et al, 2018;Corcoran et al, 2022), salinity effects (Eley et al, 2014;Ceccopieri et al, 2021) and elevation (Duan and He, 2011), must be taken into account when attempting any kind of δ 2 H p reconstruction from sedimentary δ 2 H wax from wetlands.…”

Section: Net 2 H-fractionationmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…As n-alkanes retain the δ 2 H values established at the time of biosynthesis (Sachse et al, 2012), the average δ 2 H wax of single leaves can be biased toward growth water values available at the early stages of leaf growth (Sachse et al, 2010(Sachse et al, , 2015Tipple and Pagani, 2013;Gamarra and Kahmen, 2017). This may be caused by the timing of leaf synthesis (e.g., early growth often relies on synthates stored at the end of the previous year; Gao et al, 2015;Newberry et al, 2015;Freimuth et al, 2017) and, more generally, changes in the biosynthetic water pool linked to external factors such as temperature and relative humidity (Hou et al, 2008;Kahmen et al, 2008;Zhou et al, 2011;Douglas et al, 2012;Gao et al, 2014b;Bai et al, 2019;Jacob et al, 2021;Eensalu et al, 2023), light intensity (Yang et al, 2009), salinity (Ladd and Sachs, 2012;He et al, 2017;Ceccopieri et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2022), seasonality (Sessions, 2006;Pedentchouk et al, 2008;Kahmen et al, 2011;Newberry et al, 2015;Liu et al, 2017), elevation (e.g., Pérez-Angel et al, 2022) and precipitation δ 2 H (δ 2 H p ; Sachse et al, 2006Sachse et al, , 2010Sachse et al, , 2012Liu and Yang, 2008;Rao et al, 2009;Feakins and Sessions, 2010).…”

Section: Stable Isotopic Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leaf wax n-alkane distribution and hydrogen isotopic fractionation in fen plant communities of two Mediterranean wetlands (Tenaghi Philippon, Nisí fen—Greece)

Ardenghi,

Mulch,

McFarlin

et al. 2024

Front. Earth Sci.

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Many continental paleoclimate archives originate from wetland sedimentary sequences. While several studies have investigated biomarkers derived from peat-generating vegetation typical of temperate/boreal bogs (e.g., Sphagnum), only scant information is available on emergent plants predominant in temperate/subtropical coastal marshlands, peri-lacustrine and fen environments. Here, we address this gap, focusing on two wetlands in the Mediterranean (Nisí fen and Tenaghi Philippon, Greece). We examined the concentration, homologue distribution, and hydrogen stable isotopic composition (δ2H) of leaf wax n-alkanes in 13 fen plant species, their surrounding soil, and surface water during the wet growing season (spring) and the declining water table period (summer). Our findings indicate that local graminoid species primarily contribute to the soil n-alkane signal, with a lesser influence from forbs, likely owing to differences in morphology and vegetation structure. The δ2H values of surface and soil water align with local average annual precipitation δ2H, reflecting winter-spring precipitation. Consistently, the average δ2H of local surface, soil, and lower stem water showed negligible evaporative enrichment, confirming minimal 2H-fractionation during water uptake. We find that δ2H values of source water for wax compound synthesis in local fen plants accurately mirror local annual precipitation. Furthermore, despite differences between leaves and lower stems in n-alkane production rates, their δ2H values exhibit remarkable similarity, indicating a shared metabolic substrate, likely originating in leaves. Our net 2H-fractionation values (i.e., precipitation to leaf n-alkanes) align with those in Chinese highlands and other similar environments, suggesting consistency across diverse climatic zones. Notably, our data reveal a seasonal decrease in the carbon preference index (CPI) in plant samples, indicating wax lipid synthesis changes associated with increased aridity. Additionally, we introduce a new parity isotopic difference index (PID) based on the consistent δ2H difference between odd and even n-alkane homologues. The PID demonstrates a strong anticorrelation with plant CPI, suggesting a potential avenue to trace long-term aridity shifts through δ2H analysis of odd and even n-alkane homologues in sedimentary archives. While further development of the PID is necessary for broad application, these findings highlight the intricate interplay between plant physiology, environmental parameters, and sedimentary n-alkanes in unravelling past climatic conditions.

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Section: Net 2 H-fractionationmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Stable Isotopic Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf wax n-alkane distribution and hydrogen isotopic fractionation in fen plant communities of two Mediterranean wetlands (Tenaghi Philippon, Nisí fen—Greece)

Ardenghi,

Mulch,

McFarlin

et al. 2024

Front. Earth Sci.

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“…Detailed studies on the δ 13 C composition of plant wax homologs of varying chain lengths from individual C 3 and C 4 species found a larger range of isotope values for C 3 plants than for C 4 plants (Boom et al., 2014; Garcin et al., 2014; Krull et al., 2006; Rommerskirchen et al., 2006; Vogts et al., 2009; Wu et al., 2017). In addition to the dominant impact of the photosynthetic metabolism, climate conditions and altitude have been found to act as secondary forcing mechanisms controlling plant wax δ 13 C compositions, with aridity and higher altitudes leading to higher δ 13 C values (Ceccopieri et al., 2021; Diefendorf et al., 2010; Wu et al., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Multi‐Homolog Plant‐Wax Carbon Isotope Compositions to Reconstruct Tropical Vegetation Types

Häggi,

Bertassoli,

Akabane

et al. 2024

JGR Biogeosciences

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The stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of plant components such as plant wax biomarkers is an important tool for reconstructing past vegetation. Plant wax δ13C is mainly controlled by photosynthetic pathways, allowing for the differentiation of C4 tropical grasses and C3 forests. Proxy interpretations are however complicated by additional factors such as aridity, vegetation density, elevation, and the considerable δ13C variability found among C3 plant species. Moreover, studies on plant wax δ13C in tropical soils and plants have focused on Africa, while structurally different South American savannas, shrublands and rainforests remain understudied. Here, we analyze the δ13C composition of long‐chain n‐alkanes and fatty acids from tropical South American soils and leaf litter to assess the isotopic variability in each vegetation type and to investigate the influence of climatic features on δ13C. Rainforests and open vegetation types show distinct values, with rainforests having a narrow range of low δ13C values (n‐C29 alkane: ‰ ; Suess‐effect corrected). This allows for the detection of even minor incursions of savanna (δ13C n‐C29 alkane ‰) into rainforests. While Cerrado savannas and semi‐arid Caatinga shrublands grow under distinctly different climates, they can yield indistinct δ13C values for most compounds. Cerrado soils and litter show pronounced isotopic spreads between the n‐C33 and n‐C29 alkanes, while Caatinga shrublands show consistent values across the two homologs, thereby enabling the differentiation of these vegetation types. The same multi‐homolog isotope analysis can be extended to differentiate African shrublands from savannas.

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“…Detailed studies on the δ 13 C composition of plant wax homologues of varying chain lengths from individual C 3 and C 4 species found a larger range of isotope values for C 3 plants than for C 4 plants (Boom et al, 2014;Garcin et al, 2014;Krull et al, 2006;Rommerskirchen et al, 2006;Vogts et al, 2009;Wu et al, 2017). In addition to the dominant impact of the photosynthetic metabolism, climate conditions and altitude have been found to act as secondary forcing mechanisms controlling plant wax δ 13 C compositions, with aridity and higher altitudes leading to higher δ 13 C values (Ceccopieri et al, 2021;Diefendorf et al, 2010;Wu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Multi-Homologue Plant-Wax Carbon Isotope Signatures to Reconstruct Tropical Vegetation Types

Häggi,

Jr,

Akabane

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of plant components such as plant wax biomarkers is an important tool for reconstructing past vegetation. Plant wax δ13C is mainly controlled by photosynthetic pathways, allowing for the differentiation of C4 tropical grasses and C3 forests. Proxy interpretations are however complicated by additional factors such as aridity, vegetation density, elevation, and the considerable δ13C variability found among C3 plant species. Moreover, studies on plant wax δ13C in tropical soils and plants have focused on Africa, while structurally different South American savannas, shrublands and forests remain understudied. Here, we analyze the δ13C composition of long-chain n-alkanes and fatty acids from tropical South American soils and leaf litter to assess the isotopic variability in each vegetation type and to investigate the influence of climatic features on δ13C. Rainforests and open vegetation types show distinct values, with rainforests having a narrow range of low δ13C values (n-C29 n-alkane: -34.5 +0.9/-0.6 ‰ ; Suess-effect corrected) allowing for the detection of even minor incursions of savanna into rainforests (13C-enriched). While Cerrado savannas and semi-arid Caatinga shrublands grow under distinctly different climates, they can yield indistinct δ13C values for most compounds. Cerrado soils and litter show pronounced isotopic spreads between the n-C33 and n-C29 alkanes, while Caatinga shrublands show consistent values across the two homologues, thereby enabling the differentiation of these vegetation types. The same multi-homologue isotope analysis can be extended to differentiate African shrublands from savannas.

show abstract

Carbon isotopic composition of leaf wax n-alkanes in mangrove plants along a latitudinal gradient in Brazil

Cited by 13 publications

References 77 publications

Leaf wax n-alkane distribution and hydrogen isotopic fractionation in fen plant communities of two Mediterranean wetlands (Tenaghi Philippon, Nisí fen—Greece)

Leaf wax n-alkane distribution and hydrogen isotopic fractionation in fen plant communities of two Mediterranean wetlands (Tenaghi Philippon, Nisí fen—Greece)

Using Multi‐Homolog Plant‐Wax Carbon Isotope Compositions to Reconstruct Tropical Vegetation Types

Using Multi-Homologue Plant-Wax Carbon Isotope Signatures to Reconstruct Tropical Vegetation Types

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