Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jochem Baan, Meisha Holloway-Phillips, Daniel B. Nelson, Ansgar Kahmen
Summary: Variation in plant organic compound 82H and 818O values among species is common, but the extent to which this is driven by leaf water or biochemical isotope effects is unclear. Comparing leaf water and organic compound isotope values across 192 species, we found that variation in leaf water values may not strongly drive the variation in organic compound values.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Narda J. Trivino, Alejandro Rodriguez-Sanchez, Timothy Filley, James J. Camberato, Micaela Colley, Phillip Simon, Lori Hoagland
Summary: By studying carrot genotypes, it was found that different genotypes have varying abilities to decompose organic materials in the soil, and can stimulate the increase of specific bacterial communities, thereby promoting organic matter decomposition. This finding is helpful for selectively breeding carrot varieties with the ability to promote soil organic matter decomposition.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Megan C. Corcoran, Aaron F. Diefendorf, Thomas V. Lowell, Brenda L. Hall, Meghan M. Spoth, Anna Schartman, Paul Brickle
Summary: The hydrogen isotope composition of terrestrial plant waxes (delta H-2(wax)) is widely used to reconstruct past hydroclimate. By analyzing 11 common plant species on the Falkland Islands, it was found that the most commonly observed plants, Empetrum rubrum and Cortaderia pilosa, contribute the most to the waxes in sediment archives. The fractionation between n-C29 alkane delta H-2(wax) and delta H-2(precip) values was calculated to be similar to the global average, indicating that delta H-2(wax) values can be interpreted as mean annual delta H-2(precip) values in plant wax-based paleoreconstructions.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jinzhao Liu, Jiaju Zhao, Ding He, Xianyu Huang, Chong Jiang, Hong Yan, Guanghui Lin, Zhisheng An
Summary: Terrestrial leaf wax n-alkane biomarkers play a significant role in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, but the effects of plant types on their accuracy are important. This review examines the impact of plant types on leaf wax n-alkane biomarkers, including their distribution, hydrogen isotope composition, and carbon isotope composition, and provides examples of cross-calibration in paleo-applications.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jochem Baan, Meisha Holloway-Phillips, Daniel B. Nelson, Ansgar Kahmen
Summary: Hydrogen stable isotope analyses of plant derived organic compounds provide valuable insights for ecological, environmental, and palaeoclimatological research. Variable biosynthetic 2H-fractionation has been observed during organic compound synthesis due to changes in plant carbon fluxes. In this study, we used plant mutants with impaired starch synthesis to investigate the effect of carbon metabolism on the biosynthetic 2H-fractionation during cellulose, phytol, and acetogenic lipid synthesis. Our findings suggest that impaired starch synthesis leads to higher 82H values in cellulose and phytol, while the 2H-fractionation in acetogenic lipid biosynthesis is less sensitive to metabolic changes.
Article
Forestry
Akira Kagawa
Summary: Introductory biology lessons often teach that plants absorb water through their roots, but recent studies have shown that plants can also absorb water through their leaves. This study presents a new labelling method that can simultaneously label water absorbed through leaves and roots, and quantifies their contributions to plant biomass.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Hu Liu, Yunning Cao, Jing Hu, Zhonghui Liu, Weiguo Liu
Summary: The study investigated the compound-specific delta D deviations with varying contents injected using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, finding higher delta D values with decreasing amplitudes and larger deviations occurring in low amplitude range. For lab working standards, n-alkane delta D values varied significantly with changes in amplitudes, while repeated analyses of natural samples yielded higher delta D values with lower amplitudes and lower values with higher amplitudes. Amplitude-based correction of lipid delta D values may be attempted, but caution is needed due to large residual errors.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Song Li, Lele Jin, Haiyong Wang, Xiangqian Wei, Wenzhi Li, Qiying Liu, Xinghua Zhang, Lungang Chen, Longlong Ma, Qi Zhang
Summary: In this study, WOx-decorated catalyst was used to selectively convert microcrystalline cellulose into C-6 alkanes via cellulose hydrolysis, glucose hydrogenation, and sorbitol hydrodeoxygenation. The coupling of WOx and Ir enhanced the catalytic performance by improving hydrogenation and deoxygenation reactions. The interaction between WOx and Ir facilitated electron transfer and improved the reduction capability of Ir and activation of C-O bonds on reduced WOx, resulting in higher yields of C-6 alkanes.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
William C. Daniels
Summary: Paleoclimatologists use lake sediments to reconstruct past changes in precipitation and evaporation. Recent research in Arctic lakes shows that aquatic plants contribute significantly to the wax signals, providing a method for identifying the sources of plant waxes in these lakes.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Nicholas O. E. Ofiti, Cyrill U. Zosso, Jennifer L. Soong, Emily F. Solly, Margaret S. Torn, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Michael W. Schmidt
Summary: The study found that +4 degrees C whole-soil warming significantly impacted the quantity and quality of SOM, leading to divergent responses in different soil depths. The warming increased the accumulation of plant-derived n-alkanes in deep subsoils, but at the expense of plant- and microorganism-derived fatty acids, indicating accelerated microbial decomposition of plant-derived inputs with warming.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Anic Imfeld, Alexandre Ouellet, Peter M. J. Douglas, Gregor Kos, Yves Gelinas
Summary: Sediments contain a variety of inorganic and organic components, with the composition of organics not fully characterized. Research focused on n-alkanes in coastal sediments shows variations in abundance and sources along the terrestrial-marine continuum. Isotopic analysis of odd and even n-alkanes can be used to determine their sources.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Meisha Holloway-Phillips, Lucas A. Cernusak, Daniel B. Nelson, Marco M. Lehmann, Guillaume Tcherkez, Ansgar Kahmen
Summary: Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of cellulose in plant biology can be used to understand environmental conditions, but their covariation is not well understood. This study compared plant water, leaf cellulose, and branch cellulose across an aridity gradient in Northern Australia. The researchers found a decline in covariation from xylem to leaf water, and from leaf to branch wood cellulose. The results suggest that postphotosynthetic isotope exchange with water is more apparent for oxygen isotopes, while variable kinetic and nonequilibrium isotope effects complicate the interpretation of metabolic-induced d(2)H patterns.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Ding He, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Rudolf Jaffe, Xiaochen Zhao
Summary: Distinct differences in green leaves wax n-alkane delta(13)(delta C-13(n-alkane)) values and brown-senescent leaves C:N atomic ratios and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations of three mangrove species reflect ecophysiological adaptations to nutrient availability and salinity. Isotopic footprints and bulk delta C-13 values in different species along estuarine salinity regions suggest potential for using leaf wax n-alkane delta C-13 values as a salinity proxy for paleoclimate reconstruction.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
Dang Tianxiang, Cao Yunyun, Xing Lei
Summary: Stable carbon isotopic compositions of n-alkanes in surface sediments of the Bohai and North Yellow Seas show that terrestrial higher plants are the main source of sedimentary organic matter, with angiosperms being the major contributors. On the other hand, mid-chain n-alkanes in sediments are mainly derived from aquatic emergent macrophytes, with significant petroleum pollution and bacterial degradation sources for short-chain n-alkanes.
JOURNAL OF OCEAN UNIVERSITY OF CHINA
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Philipp Schuler, Valentina Vitali, Matthias Saurer, Arthur Gessler, Nina Buchmann, Marco M. M. Lehmann
Summary: Recent methodological advancements have allowed us to determine the nonexchangeable hydrogen isotopic composition of plant carbohydrates, providing insights into the drivers of hydrogen isotope fractionation processes in plants. In our study, we examined the influence of phylogeny on the isotopic composition of various plant tissues, and found that phylogeny plays a role in hydrogen isotope fractionation in plant carbohydrates, particularly in leaf sugars. Our findings also suggest that the original phylogenetic signal of autotrophic processes is modified by species-specific metabolism. These results have important implications for dendrochronological and ecophysiological studies and can improve hydrogen isotope fractionation models for plant carbohydrates.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Emma L. Carroll, Glenn Dunshea, Paulo H. Ott, Luciano O. Valenzuela, C. Scott Baker, Simon J. Childerhouse, Oscar E. Gaggiotti, Paulo A. C. Flores, Karina Groch, Darren R. Grocke, Mark A. Hindell, David Lundquist, Larissa R. Oliveira, Victoria Rowntree, Mariano Sironi, Seth D. Newsome
Summary: Southern right whales from New Zealand demonstrate negative Delta C-13(calf-cow) offset, indicating calves are utilizing C-13-depleted lipid carbon in milk for rapid growth, while those from Argentina during a mass die-off event show significantly positive Delta C-13(calf-cow) offset, possibly due to consuming milk with low lipid content. Patterns in Delta N-15(calf-cow) were more difficult to interpret and highlight the complexity in nitrogen transfer between mother and offspring, suggesting a need for further research in this area.
MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
A. H. Caruthers, S. M. Marroquin, D. R. Grocke, M. L. Golding, M. Aberhan, T. R. Them, Y. P. Veenma, J. D. Owens, C. A. McRoberts, R. M. Friedman, J. M. Trop, D. Szucs, J. Palfy, M. Rioux, J. P. Trabucho-Alexandre, B. C. Gill
Summary: The study provides new evidence supporting a long duration of the Rhaetian and constraints the Triassic-Jurassic boundary to a 6-meter interval in the section based on diverse biostratigraphic and isotopic data from the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic sedimentary succession in southern Alaska. The record from Grotto Creek, in conjunction with previous data, shows consistent features on a global scale but also reveals local heterogeneities compared to some Tethyan records, raising questions about regional overprinting of the global signal and highlighting unresolved regional vs. global scale of some presumed carbon cycle perturbations.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
A. Guy Plint, David Ulicny, Stanislav Cech, Ireneusz Walaszczyk, Darren R. Grocke, Jiri Laurin, Joel A. Shank, Ian Jarvis
Summary: This study integrates basin-scale, three-dimensional sequence architecture, molluscan biostratigraphy, and carbon-isotope chemostratigraphy to demonstrate synchronous sea-level changes in the Western Canada Foreland Basin and the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. The results show that major transgressive events in both basins were paced by different eccentricity cycles, while early Coniacian sequences were influenced by the obliquity rhythm. The findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of eustatic change and fill gaps in previous research.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Philipp Schuler, Marc-Andre Cormier, Roland A. Werner, Nina Buchmann, Arthur Gessler, Valentina Vitali, Matthias Saurer, Marco M. Lehmann
Summary: This study tested the applicability of the hot vapor equilibration method for non-structural carbohydrates and successfully established an analytical protocol. The results showed reproducible δH-2(ne) values in sugars and starch from different sources, with variation among plant types, indicating potential for future research in using δH-2(ne) as a proxy for various environmental and physiological processes in plants.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Anthropology
Charlotte L. King, Rebecca L. Kinaston, Anne Marie E. Snoddy, Hallie R. Buckley, Peter Petchey, Andrew R. Millard, Darren R. Grocke
Summary: Bioarchaeological investigation sheds light on the experiences of colonial children in New Zealand, revealing differences in weaning practices, periods of illness associated with weaning, and potential problems caused by maternal Vitamin D deficiency in the colony.
CHILDHOOD IN THE PAST
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Shams M. Galib, Jingrui Sun, Darren R. Grocke, Martyn C. Lucas
Summary: This study conducted an experimental research on the effects of non-native crayfish on stream ecosystems and found that even at low densities, non-native crayfish can significantly alter multiple components of stream ecosystems. It emphasizes the need to minimize the spread of non-native crayfish within and between streams.
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
S. Hage, V. V. Galy, M. J. B. Cartigny, C. Heerema, M. S. Heijnen, S. Acikalin, M. A. Clare, I Giesbrecht, D. R. Grocke, A. Hendry, R. G. Hilton, S. M. Hubbard, J. E. Hunt, D. G. Lintern, C. McGhee, D. R. Parsons, E. L. Pope, C. D. Stacey, E. J. Sumner, S. Tank, P. J. Talling
Summary: This study investigates the distribution and burial efficiency of organic carbon in a turbidity current system in Bute Inlet, a fjord in western Canada. The results show that about 62% of the supplied organic carbon is buried in the surface sediment of the fjord, with the sandy subenvironments containing the majority of the terrestrial organic carbon burial. in contrast, the muddy subenvironments contain the remaining portion. This study suggests that turbidity currents in fjords are efficient at storing organic carbon supplied by rivers in their near-surface deposits.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Ioannis Katharopoulos, Dominik Brunner, Lukas Emmenegger, Markus Leuenberger, Stephan Henne
Summary: This article investigates the influence of turbulence parameterization in Lagrangian particle dispersion models (LPDMs) and proposes a new parameterization method to address the issue of double-counting in high-resolution simulations. The results show that the new parameterization improves the model's ability to predict observed tracer variability and concentration, resulting in a more realistic simulation of tracer concentration peaks.
BOUNDARY-LAYER METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jack Salisbury, Darren R. Grocke, H. D. R. Ashleigh Cheung, Lee R. Kump, Tom McKie, Alastair Ruffell
Summary: Despite the extensive use of sulphur isotope ratios (delta S-34) for understanding ancient biogeochemical cycles, this study focuses on generating an 80 million-year Permian-Triassic delta S-34(evap) curve and incorporating it into a sulphur isotope box model. The model reveals three significant pyrite burial events in the Triassic and predicts a substantial increase in pyrite burial across the end-Permian mass extinction, possibly driven by Siberian Traps volcanism.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
L. J. Robinson, K. S. George, C. P. Fox, J. E. A. Marshall, I. C. Harding, P. R. Bown, J. R. Lively, S. Marroquin, R. M. Leckie, S. Dameron, D. R. Grocke, N. M. Papadomanolaki, N. A. G. M. van Helmond, J. H. Whiteside
Summary: Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs) are important geological events that may be similar to future climate-driven deoxygenation of the oceans. This study examines sediments from the Cenomanian-Turonian age in the Western Interior Seaway (WIS) to investigate changing redox and ecological conditions. The results show heterogeneity across different sites but reveal important relationships and trends among oceanographic variables. The findings suggest that local effects, such as nutrient-driven expansion of the oxygen minimum zone and sedimentation-driven anoxia, have influenced regional trends.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
F. C. Alldred, D. R. Grocke, C. Y. Leung, L. P. Wright, N. Banfield
Summary: This study compares the effects of different sewage infrastructure on nitrogen loading in two island systems in the UK, Jersey and St Mary's. The results show that Jersey has higher nitrogen levels, which can be attributed to the outflow of the Bellozanne Sewerage Treatment Works. St Mary's, on the other hand, has lower nitrogen levels due to a smaller population and inefficient sewerage treatment. The study highlights the use of macroalgae as a bioindicator for nitrogen effluent in the marine environment.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Harry K. Robson, Kurt J. Gron, Darren R. Grocke, Giedre Piliciauskiene, Gytis Piliciauskase
Summary: Until recently, stable sulphur isotope analysis of bone collagen was rarely used in bioarchaeological research. However, its application has become more common and proved to be useful in reconstructing paleodiets, paleoecologies, and identifying migration patterns. This study conducted sulphur isotope analysis, along with carbon and nitrogen analysis, on bone collagen samples from prehistoric sites in Lithuania, providing valuable data for future research on spatial and temporal variability in the region.
Article
Archaeology
Lauren McIntyre, Lauren Kancle, Janet Montgomery, Joanna Moore, Darren R. Grocke, Geoff M. Nowell
Summary: This study combines various analyses and evidence to consider whether SK 3870 represents Lady Isabel German. While the identity of the skeleton could not be conclusively determined, the evidence offers insights into this individual and sheds light on a medieval practice rarely seen in archaeological records.
MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Anthropology
Brett Ostrum, Darren R. Grocke, Janet Montgomery
Summary: This study investigates the feasibility of obtaining paleodietary information from pulp stones through stable isotope analysis, and assesses their utility when combined with the incremental dentine method. The results demonstrate that paleodietary information can be obtained from pulp stones, but there are challenges in interpreting the data.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Erin L. McClymont, Michael J. Bentley, Dominic A. Hodgson, Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones, Thomas Wardley, Martin D. West, Ian W. Croudace, Sonja Berg, Darren R. Grocke, Gerhard Kuhn, Stewart S. R. Jamieson, Louise Sime, Richard A. Phillips
Summary: Antarctic sea ice plays a crucial role in the climate system, but uncertainties in reconstructing its past extent hinder our understanding. Using stomach oils of snow petrels as a novel archive, this study reconstructed the sea-ice environment and diet changes during the last glacial stage. The findings indicate that extensive sea ice was not always present near the continent, highlighting the potential of stomach-oil deposits as a paleoenvironmental archive.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2022)