Continental-Scale Distributions of Vegetation Stable Carbon Isotope Ratios

Still, Christopher J.; Powell, Rebecca

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3354-3_9

Cited by 65 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…For each catchment, the proportion of C3 and C4 vegetation was estimated based on the data from Still and Powell (2010). Their crop-corrected estimates of relative C3 and C4 vegetation cover were used and integrated over the catchments using ArcGIS v10.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their crop-corrected estimates of relative C3 and C4 vegetation cover were used and integrated over the catchments using ArcGIS v10. Catchment areas were delineated from a vector representation of African water basins (FAO 2002), from which the percentage of C4 vegetation in each catchment was calculated (Still and Powell 2010). Due to the presence of large reservoirs and the associated retention of organic matter in these water bodies, the calculated C3/C4 cover for the Tana and the Zambezi was constrained to the catchment area below the Kiambere and Cahora Bassa reservoir, respectively.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on personal observations and the proximity to the Rianila catchment, we can however assume that vegetation around that area is C3-dominated, with a similar proportion of C3/C4 cover as in the Rianila catchment (15/85%). In all catchments, both C3 and C4 vegetation cover is mostly natural, but the values given are corrected for estimated crop contributions as outlined in Still & Powell (2010).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It originates in Mount Kenya and the Aberdares highlands, where most vegetation is C3, but runs mostly through tropical arid and semi-arid zones where the catchment has an increasing C4 cover, including a large part with 90-100% C4 cover (Still and Powell 2010). The ;1300 km 2 delta has extensive freshwater and estuarine wetlands, including floodplain forests and mangroves.…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Importance of terrestrial subsidies for estuarine food webs in contrasting East African catchments

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Little is known on the degree to which terrestrial organic matter delivered to tropical estuaries contributes to estuarine consumers. Here, stable isotope analysis is used to constrain this contribution for contrasting east African estuaries whose catchments differ in relative C3/C4 vegetation cover. As these two types of vegetation differ strongly in d 13 C, we anticipated that terrestrial subsidies would be reflected in a gradient in estuarine consumer d13 C values, following the relative importance of C3 (characterised by low consumer trophic guilds, confirming the incorporation of organic material transported from the catchments by estuarine consumers, and implying that this material is transported up to high trophic level fish. Bayesian mixing models confirmed that C4 material was the most important source for the highly turbid, C4-dominated estuaries, contributing up to 61-91% (95% CI) to phytodetritivorous fish in the Betsiboka, whereas for the less turbid C3-dominated estuaries terrestrial subsidies were not as important and consumers relied on a combination of terrestrial and aquatic sources. This shows that the ecology of the overall catchment affects the estuaries at the most basic, energetic level, and activities that alter the turbidity and productivity of rivers and estuaries can affect food webs well beyond the area of impact.

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Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Importance of terrestrial subsidies for estuarine food webs in contrasting East African catchments

et al. 2013

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“…However, this field is in its infancy and few attempts have been made to combine multiple isotopes to better infer connections at large spatial scales (Hobson et al 2012a, Hobson et al 2012b (West et al 2010). Recently, plant-d 13 C isoscapes based on predictions of the distribution and relative abundance of C3 and C4 vegetation have also been established for Africa (Still and Powell 2010) and South America (Powell et al 2012). These developments have led to attempts to simultaneously combine isoscapes based on several elements (Hobson et al 2012a, Hobson et al 2012b, Hobson et al 2012d).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi‐isotope (δ²H, δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) approach to establishing migratory connectivity of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

García-Pérez

Hobson

2014

Ecosphere

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Establishing geographic links between different stages of the annual cycle of migratory species is fundamental to evaluating factors limiting their populations. Stable isotope measurements (δ13C, δ15N, and δ2H) of feathers combined with a knowledge of how these isotopes are structured spatially in foodwebs can be used to establish molt origins and migratory connectivity. Here, we investigated patterns of migratory connectivity between North American breeding grounds and South American wintering grounds of stable (n = 3) and declining (n = 9) populations of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) in North America using a probabilistic assignment to multi‐isotope feather clusters derived for 488 winter‐grown feathers collected during the breeding season (2009 to 2012). Our study did not find evidence for differential degree of migratory connectivity between increasing/stable and declining populations of Barn Swallows but found a longitudinal structure in breeding and wintering ground origins of populations. Probable wintering areas for northern and western breeding birds corresponded with western regions of South America, while birds breeding in southern and eastern North America tended to occupy areas in north‐eastern South America. Possible factors contributing to the differential population trends between stable or increasing and declining breeding populations could be related to habitat quality of the different wintering areas, changes in climate, and the cost of long‐distance migration. The use of a multi‐isotope approach and the combination of prior information on geographic distribution of vegetation types, based on δ13C measurements, effectively constrained geographic origins of swallows and our approach can be applied to defining migratory connectivity for other species.

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The age of river‐transported carbon: A global perspective

Marwick

Tamooh

Teodoru

et al. 2015

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

204

211

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The role played by river networks in regional and global carbon (C) budgets is receiving increasing attention. Despite the potential of radiocarbon measurements (Δ 14 C) to elucidate sources and cycling of different riverine C pools, there remain large regions for which no data are available and no comprehensive attempts to synthesize the available information and examine global patterns in the 14 C content of different riverine C pools. Here we present new 14 C data on particulate and dissolved organic C (POC and DOC) from six river basins in tropical and subtropical Africa and compiled >1400 literature Δ 14 C data and ancillary parameters from rivers globally. Our analysis reveals a consistent pattern whereby POC is progressively older in systems carrying higher sediment loads, coinciding with a lower organic carbon content. At the global scale, this pattern leads to a proposed global median Δ 14 C signature of À203‰, corresponding to an age of~1800 years B.P. For DOC exported to the coastal zone, we predict a modern (decadal) age (Δ 14 C = +22 to +46‰), and paired data sets confirm that riverine DOC is generally more recent in origin than POC-in contrast to the situation in ocean environments. Weathering regimes complicate the interpretation of 14 C ages of dissolved inorganic carbon, but the available data favor the hypothesis that in most cases, more recent organic C is preferentially mineralized.

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Continental-Scale Distributions of Vegetation Stable Carbon Isotope Ratios

Cited by 65 publications

References 43 publications

Importance of terrestrial subsidies for estuarine food webs in contrasting East African catchments

Importance of terrestrial subsidies for estuarine food webs in contrasting East African catchments

A multi‐isotope (δ²H, δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) approach to establishing migratory connectivity of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

The age of river‐transported carbon: A global perspective

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Continental-Scale Distributions of Vegetation Stable Carbon Isotope Ratios

Cited by 65 publications

References 43 publications

Importance of terrestrial subsidies for estuarine food webs in contrasting East African catchments

Importance of terrestrial subsidies for estuarine food webs in contrasting East African catchments

A multi‐isotope (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N) approach to establishing migratory connectivity of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

The age of river‐transported carbon: A global perspective

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A multi‐isotope (δ²H, δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) approach to establishing migratory connectivity of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)