The carbon isotope composition of C3 herbaceous plants in loess area of northern China

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in an urban riparian zone affected by wastewater treatment plant effluent and the transfer to terrestrial compartment by invertebrates

“…These suggested that grasshoppers might be generalists but have a C4-based diet preference. In contrast, the δ 13 C signature in butterfly was relatively lower than the rest and may be explained by C3 based food sources, which generally display higher degree of 13 C depletion (Wang et al, 2003).…”

Relationship between climatic conditions and the relative abundance of modern C3 and C4 plants in three regions around the North Pacific

“…From this two important points emerge: first, the carbon isotopic composition of modern plants is variable under different environments [18,24]; and second, the carbon isotopic composition of plant remains may change during the burial and decomposition process, and this change is variable [16,25]. Because of this, using the mean carbon isotopic composition of modern plants (−27‰ and −13‰) as the endpoints to estimate C 3 /C 4 relative abundance may result in significant errors.…”

“…However, between 42°N and 46°N in the same region, the δ 13 C TOC values are relatively higher, which may suggest that carbon isotopic values of C 3 plants are greater under drier conditions [18]. This is further bolstered by the fact that the sampling area is desert or desert steppe [17].…”

Spatial and temporal variations of C3/C4 relative abundance in global terrestrial ecosystem since the Last Glacial and its possible driving mechanisms

“…Organic   13 C data from the western edge of CLP indicate that this area was dominated by pure C 3 vegetation during the Last Glacial (Yuanbao [35] in Figure 1). Because   13 C values of modern plants are variable under different environmental conditions [36][37][38][39], and to a certain extent, it will become more positive during the decomposition of plant remains [39,40]. It is worth to note that relative abundance of C 4 plants, especially during the glacial periods, may has been overestimated [39], if the highest frequent carbon isotopic values in modern C 3 and C 4 plants (normally, 27‰ and 13‰ [33]) were taken as the end-point values for estimation.…”

“…Numerous study results of modern C 3 plants indicate that their   13 C values are negatively correlated with the precipitation, i.e.   13 C of modern C 3 plants will be more negative with increasing precipitation [36][37][38][39]. Therefore,   13 C data derived from terrestrial higher plants in this region (high-latitudes) should record the  …”