Landscape patterns of vegetation change indicated by soil carbon isotope composition

Biedenbender, Sharon; McClaran, Mitchel P.; Quade, Jay; Weltz, Mark A.

doi:10.1016/s0016-7061(03)00234-9

Cited by 59 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The carbon isotope ratio (δ 13 C) is conventionally expressed relative to the Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard and results are calculated on a per mil basis (parts per thousand, 0/00) (Boutton, 1996;Biedenbender et al, 2004). Boutton (1996) points out that there is little change in the δ 13 C PDP value of plant material as it decomposes and, consequently, the δ 13 C PDP values of soil organic carbon combine the relative contributions of plant material from C3, C4 and CAMS plant types to the soil organic carbon pool.…”

Section: Stable Carbon Isotopes and Vegetation Reconstruction In Teotmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Boutton (1996) points out that there is little change in the δ 13 C PDP value of plant material as it decomposes and, consequently, the δ 13 C PDP values of soil organic carbon combine the relative contributions of plant material from C3, C4 and CAMS plant types to the soil organic carbon pool. Studies of differential decomposition rates, variability in atmospheric δ 13 C, and isotope fractionation by microorganisms suggest that the potential increases of δ 13 C in bulk soil organic matter are lower than the difference between the ranges of C3 and C4 plants (Boutton, 1996;Kelly et al, 1998;Koch, 1998;Biedenbender et al, 2004). Thus, the basic assumption underlying the use of δ 13 C ratios as indicators of vegetation dynamics and related environmental change is that the primary influence on δ 13 C PDP of soil organic matter is the relative contribution of C3 versus C4 plants to the total net primary productivity of the community (Kerns et al, 2001).…”

Section: Stable Carbon Isotopes and Vegetation Reconstruction In Teotmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The analysis of δ 13 C ratios from selected soils in the Teotihuacan Valley was undertaken in order to detect evidence for vegetation change through time (Boutton, 1996;Biedenbender et al, 2004), considered an indicator of landscape modification. Phytolith analysis of the same soils was incorporated to compare with the results obtained from δ 13 C ratios.…”

Section: Objective Of δmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stable carbon isotope values (δ 13 C) from organic material in soils and sediments suggest possible sources of carbon in the organic component and contribute to the development of hypotheses concerning the composition of regional vegetation (Biedenbender et al, 2004;Boutton, 1996). Such data provide complementary information which, when combined with the determination of stratigraphic microand macrobotanical remains from archaeological contexts, broadens our perspective concerning past landscapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable Carbon Isotopes Applied to Vegetation Reconstruction in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

Tapia¹,

Adriano-Morán²

2012

BSGM

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Stable carbon isotope values (δ 13 C) from organic material in soils and sediments suggest possible sources of carbon in the organic component and contribute to the development of hypotheses concerning the composition of regional vegetation. This paper explores the application of δ 13 C to the study of soils and sediments in conjunction with the analysis of plant remains in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico, located approximately 50 km NE of Mexico City, known for the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, occupied between ca. AD 1-650. The ratios of 13 C/ 12 C from soil organic matter (SOM) provide a complementary approach towards the analysis of past vegetation change in regions characterized by relatively poor preservation of plant macrofossils and pollen. The analysis of phytoliths recovered from soils and sediments offers an additional source of evidence for broad changes in environmental conditions based on changes in the relative proportions of C3 and C4 grasses. In this paper δ 13 C ratios obtained from SOM in profiles in the Teotihuacan Valley are compared with the results of phytolith analysis in the same horizons. The relative proportion of carbon derived from C4-CAMS (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) plants was calculated. Phytolith analysis focused on the relative proportions of C3 (diagnostic phytoliths of the Pooideae subfamily of Poaceae) and C4 grass taxa (subfamilies Panicoideae, Chloridoideae and Aristodoideae). The δ 13 C ratios obtained from Tlajinga, located in an area of prehispanic irrigation south of the San Lorenzo River in the central Valley, indicate the predominance of C4-CAMS plants while phytoliths from the same horizons reflect a greater proportion of C4 grasses, although proportionally lower than isotopic indicators. The values of δ 13 C in SOM from Otumba, situated in close proximity to a river that also provided water for a prehispanic irrigation system, reflect a slightly lower predominance of C4-CAMS plants, and a slight increase in C4 grass phytoliths, with respect to Tlajinga. San Pablo provided evidence for the greatest predominance of C4-CAMS plants based on δ 13 C values in SOM whereas the phytoliths recovered from the same horizons indicate a higher proportion of C3 grasses. In general, the isotopic signatures reported here indicate changes in relative proportions of C4-CAMS plants, suggesting variability in the response of vegetation to local conditions, with a predominance of C4-CAMS plants in soil organic matter and considerable variability in proportions of C4 grass phytoliths in the contexts analyzed.Keywords: Stable carbon isotopes, buried soils, Teotihuacan, phytoliths. Resumen Los valores de los isótopos estables de carbono (δ

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Section: Stable Carbon Isotopes and Vegetation Reconstruction In Teotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stable Carbon Isotopes and Vegetation Reconstruction In Teotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Objective Of δmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stable Carbon Isotopes Applied to Vegetation Reconstruction in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

Tapia¹,

Adriano-Morán²

2012

BSGM

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“…Although stable carbon isotopic analysis of charred organic matter has been used to track changes in palaeovegetation (e.g., Behling & da Costa 2001;Bechtel et al 2002Bechtel et al , 2003Biedenbender et al 2004) and δ 13 C values of archaeological charcoal have been used to track changes in precipitation (February 1992(February , 1994aFebruary & van der Merwe 1992;Ferrio et al 2006;Aguilera et al 2008;Fiorentino et al 2008;Masi et al 2013), the success of the approach is dependent on the extent to which the environmental signal in wood is transformed in the charcoal formation process and subsequently during burial. The carbon isotope composition of plant material can change during combustion and the extent of the change depends on the plant organ combusted, its chemical composition, tissue ratios, surface area, the availability of oxygen and the combustion temperature (Leavitt et al 1982;Cahier et al 1985;Bird & Gröcke 1997;Ballentine et al 1998;Turekian et al 1998;Schleser et al 1999;Baldock & Smernik 2002;Poole et al 2002;Krull et al 2003;Steinbeiss et al 2006;Turney et al 2006;Hall et al 2008;Bird & Ascough 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

Past Environmental Proxies from the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Hall¹,

Wadley²,

Woodborne³

2014

J African Arch

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Toward inventory‐based estimates of soil organic carbon in forests of the United States

Domke

Perry

Walters

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial carbon (C) sink on Earth; this pool plays a critical role in ecosystem processes and climate change. Given the cost and time required to measure SOC, and particularly changes in SOC, many signatory nations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change report estimates of SOC stocks and stock changes using default values from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or country-specific models. In the United States, SOC in forests is monitored by the national forest inventory (NFI) conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. The FIA program has been consistently measuring soil attributes as part of the NFI since 2001 and has amassed an extensive inventory of SOC in forest land in the conterminous United States and southeast and southcentral coastal Alaska. That said, the FIA program has been using country-specific predictions of SOC based, in part, upon a model using SOC estimates from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database compiled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Estimates obtained from the STATSGO database are averages over large map units and are not expected to provide accurate estimates for specific locations, e.g., NFI plots. To improve the accuracy of SOC estimates in U.S. forests, NFI SOC observations were used for the first time to predict SOC density to a depth of 100 cm for all forested NFI plots. Incorporating soil-forming factors along with observations of SOC into a new estimation framework resulted in a 75% (48 ± 0.78 Mg/ha) increase in SOC densities nationally. This substantially increases the contribution of the SOC pool, from approximately 44% (17 Pg) of the total forest ecosystem C stocks to 56% (28 Pg), in the forest C budget of the United States.

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Landscape patterns of vegetation change indicated by soil carbon isotope composition

Cited by 59 publications

References 37 publications

Stable Carbon Isotopes Applied to Vegetation Reconstruction in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

Stable Carbon Isotopes Applied to Vegetation Reconstruction in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

Past Environmental Proxies from the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Toward inventory‐based estimates of soil organic carbon in forests of the United States

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