Seasonal variations in the isotopic composition of leaf and stem water from an arid region of Southeast Asia

Abstract

Stable isotopes are powerful research tools in environmental sciences and their use in ecosystem research is increasing. Stable isotope measurements allow the study of evapotranspiration fluxes, soil evaporation and leaf transpiration phenomena. Soil water and leaf water are the sources of the evapotranspiration that transfers large quantities of water from land to the atmosphere; as a result the isotopic composition of water left in the leaves is modified towards enrichment. Evaporation also changes the isotopic composition of water bodies creating a natural isotopic signal. The isotopic identity of soil water affects the oxygen isotopic signature of leaf and stem water. In this paper we present the isotopic data of bulk leaf water, showing the enrichment in isotopic value of oxygen due to evapotranspiration from leaves in conjunction with the isotopic signal of rainwater and other environmental factors such as humidity and temperature. Results suggest that the variation in the values of δ¹⁸O of Eucalyptus citriodora, Dalbergia sissoo, Melia azedarach and Pinus roxburghii is due to the seasonal changes in the δ¹⁸O of the source water for plants, i. e. rain. It is further observed that leaf water δ¹⁸O values are depleted during the months of July, August and September. This occurs due to the following reasons: (a) the sampling areas receive about 50% of the average annual rain during these months, and (b) rainfalls during these months are isotopically depleted compared with winter rains.

Citation Butt, S., Ali, M., Fazil, M. & Latif, Z. (2010) Seasonal variations in the isotopic composition of leaf and stem water from an arid region of Southeast Asia. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(5), 844–848.     

Mt. Suhora M dwarf survey - Detection of eight short-period variable stars

The Mt. Suhora M dwarf survey searching for pulsations in low mass main sequence stars has acquired CCD photometry of 46 M dwarf stars during the first year of the project (Baran et al., 2011). As a by-product of this search hundreds field stars have been checked for variability. This paper presents our initial result of a search for periodic variables in field stars observed in the course of the survey. On the basis of the periodicity and the shape of the light curves, eight new variables has been detected, among which five are δ Scuti stars and three likely RR Lyrae stars. Although variation in one of the stars has been previously detected, it was classified incorrectly. To support our classification, in August 2010, we performed spectroscopic observations to derive spectral types and luminosity classes for all eight variable stars.     

Influence of landscape evolution on the distribution of floristic patterns in northern Amazonia revealed by δ13C data

The Amazonian lowlands include large patches of open vegetation which contrast sharply with the rainforest, and the origin of these patches has been debated. This study focuses on a large area of open vegetation in northern Brazil, where δ¹³C and, in some instances, C/N analyses of the organic matter preserved in late Quaternary sediments were used to achieve floristic reconstructions over time. The main goal was to determine when the modern open vegetation started to develop in this area. The variability in δ¹³C data derived from nine cores ranges from ?32.2 to ?19.6‰, but with nearly 60% of data above ?26.5‰. The most enriched values were detected only in ecotone and open vegetated areas. The development of open vegetation communities was asynchronous, varying between estimated ages of 6400 and 3000 cal a BP. This suggests that the origin of the studied patches of open vegetation might be linked to sedimentary dynamics of a late Quaternary megafan system. As sedimentation ended, this vegetation type became established over the megafan surface. In addition, the data presented here show that the presence of C₄ plants must be used carefully as a proxy to interpret dry paleoclimatic episodes in Amazonian areas. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of source of a marine oil-spill using geochemical and chemometric techniques

The current work aimed to identify the source of an oil spill off the coast of Maranhão, Brazil, in September 2005 and effect a preliminary geochemical survey of this environment. A combination of bulk analytical parameters, such as carbon isotope (δ¹³C) and Ni/V ratios, and conventional fingerprinting methods (High Resolution Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) were used. The use of bulk methods greatly speeded source identification for this relatively unaltered spill: identification of the likely source was possible at this stage. Subsequent fingerprinting of biomarker distributions supported source assignment, pointing to a non-Brazilian oil. Steranes proved the most useful biomarkers for sample correlation in this work. Distribution patterns of environmentally more resilient compound types, such as certain aromatic structures, proved inconclusive for correlation, probably in view of their presence in the background.     

基于脂肪酸标记法和碳氮稳定同位素比值法的东海水母常见种的食性分析

采用脂肪酸标记法和碳氮稳定同位素比值法研究了东海6个水母常见种的食性。结果表明,6种水母的总脂肪酸含量都不高,说明作为饵料,水母不能够给捕食者提供较多的脂类营养物质。蝶水母(Ocyropsis crystallina)、瓜水母(Bero cucumis)和四叶小舌水母(Liriope tetraphylla)的脂肪酸组成较为相近,它们更多地通过捕食食物链获得有机质。同时,这几种小型水母摄食浮游植物(主要是硅藻和甲藻)比其它几种水母多;另外,它们对植食性桡足类也有一定的摄食。4月份墨绿多管水母(Aequorea coerulescens)主要通过腐生食物链获取有机质;另外,其对植食性桡足类也有一定的摄食。双生水母(Diphyidae spp.)参与腐生食物链也较多;另外,20:1+22:1含量较低指示了其对植食性桡足类几乎不摄食。蝶水母、瓜水母、四叶小舌水母和沙海蜇(Nemopilema nomurai)的δ13C更接近于陆源的C4植物的δ13C,说明其受陆源影响较大。δ15N特征结果表明,蝶水母、瓜水母和四叶小舌水母(Liriope tetraphylla)在浮游食物网中均处于较高营养级,沙海蜇虽个体较大,但由于其摄食器官较小,故其与这3种小型水母的营养地位相近。并且相对于其它几种水母,沙海蜇细菌脂肪酸标记更为明显。     

南极菌Pseudoalteromonas sp.S-15-13引导糖基转移酶基因表达对环境因子变化的响应

为了探讨胞外多糖在南极微生物低温适应性中的作用与机制,克隆了南极菌Pseudoalteromonas sp.S-15-13的引导糖基转移酶(GTF)核心片段,并采用Real-Time PCR的方法研究了温度、冻融循环、盐浓度、pH等条件对该糖基转移酶基因(gtf)表达的影响。结果表明,低温有利于gtf的表达,短时的低温刺激(2℃)1 h后,gtf的表达量即上调为对照的1.5倍;而该菌经4和10℃培养24 h后gtf的表达量约为20℃时的8~12倍;经过冻融循环gtf的表达量上调,在第2个冻融循环后gtf 的表达量较对照提高了3.667倍;盐浓度对gtf的影响表现为低促高抑,即NaCl含量为6.0 %时gtf 的表达量是对照(3.0%)的3.59倍,当NaCl含量达9.0 %时gtf 表达量则显著下调;在一定范围内(pH5.0~8.0),pH的改变会促进gtf 的表达,当pH为6.0时gtf 表达量约为pH7.0时的2倍。该结果为探讨胞外多糖在南极微生物环境适应性中的作用与机制提供了科学依据。     

东太平洋海隆(EPR) 13°N 附近含金属沉积物孔隙率研究

研究了采自东太平洋海隆13°N(EPR 13°N)的一个热液成因含金属箱式沉积物岩心E272的孔隙率变化特征。样品孔隙率在70.0%-85.2%之间,顶部层位比底部层位高14%左右。孔隙率随深度增加而指数式单调递减,平均递减梯度约为-0.31%/cm。该岩心上部层位呈红棕色,下部层位呈黄绿色,表明该岩心经历了显著的早期化学成岩作用。前人关于该岩心的元素地球化学,粒度和年代学数据,共同证明该岩心孔隙率随深度变化特征受稳态压缩过程控制。其孔隙率随深度的变化关系符合稳态压缩模型的经验拟合公式。E272顶部沉积物-水界面处溶解物质与海水的交换以离子扩散机制为主,而岩芯内部溶解物质的迁移则可能主要受自下而上的孔隙水流动机制控制,这与岩芯中活动元素含量上部高,下部低的分布模式一致。该研究对将来进一步讨论E272岩心在早期成岩作用中的化学过程具有指导意义。     

基于TES 反演数据的亚洲中低纬度地区大气水汽δD 的时空分布

利用搭载在Aura 卫星上的TES 观测仪所反演的2004 年8 月至2010 年12 月逐日HDO、H₂O、气温以及GNIP等资料,对亚洲中低纬度地区大气水汽中δD的时空分布特征、水汽δD与气温、水汽量的关系以及与降水同位素的关系进行了研究。从空间上来看:大气水汽、降水δD整体上表现出随纬度升高而降低的趋势,同时低纬度的西太平洋暖池以东和西亚地区形成了两个高值中心,中纬度的青藏高原和西太平洋形成了两个低值中心。从季节变化来看:陆地上水汽δD表现出暖季的高值与冷季的低值交替出现,海洋上这种变化则不明显,同时,可以看到水汽δD的季节变化与低纬度陆地上降水δD的暖季低、冷季高正好相反;中纬度大陆上水汽δD的最大值出现在气温最高的夏季;低纬度的印度半岛、中南半岛的最大值出现在季风暴发前的春季。就水汽中δD与气温、水汽量关系而言:在中纬度大陆及西亚地区均表现出正相关;在西太平洋暖池处,水汽中δD与气温呈正相关,与水汽量呈负相关。     

乌鲁木齐降水中δ18O的温度和降水强度效应的季节转换

受到温度和降水季节变化的双重影响,温带大陆和季风气候地区降水中的δ¹⁸O有很强的季节动态。在中国北方由于受到强烈的温度季节变化的控制,降水中δ¹⁸O有很强的温度效应,甚至在月尺度上与温度呈显著的正相关。然而,在降水事件尺度上,特别是多雨的夏季,显著的降水量效应仍然存在。本研究结合气象数据分析了来源于GNIP的乌鲁木齐月尺度上的降水中δ¹⁸O与平均气温和降水量之间的关系。结果表明:在年尺度上,保持气温和降水频率不变,扣除两者的影响,δ¹⁸O与降水强度有显著的负相关关系(P=0.012)。温度和降水强度效应分别为(0.45±0.03)‰·℃^-1(T=17.38,P<0.001)和(-0.28±0.12)‰·mm^-1(T=-2.29,P=0.023)。温度和降水效应在一年四季均存在,且两者存在季节转化,分别主导了一年中不同季节降水中δ¹⁸O的动态变化。在气温剧烈变动的春季(3-5月)和秋季(9-11月),显著的温度效应占主导。而在夏季(6-8月),显著的降水强度效应(T=-2.93,P=0.006)主导了降水中δ¹⁸O的动态。尽管在冬季(12月至翌年2月)降水强度效应和温度效应很微弱也不显著,但是前者仍然大于后者。     

年际―年代际尺度上南海北部SST与 东亚夏季风强度的负相关关系

选取南海北部珊瑚带宽-SST分别与甘肃万象洞WX42B石笋和贵州董哥洞DA石笋的δ18O记录在不同时段进行对比,揭示了南海北部SST变化与夏季风强度的关联。结果显示：在年际―年代际尺度上,南海北部珊瑚带宽-SST与石笋δ18O记录的夏季风强度存在负相关关系：南海北部SST升高,石笋δ18O偏重,夏季风强度减弱;反之亦然。南海北部器测SST与万象洞WX42B石笋δ18O记录的对比也证实了这一关系的存在。ENSO活动影响着季风区的降雨量,控制着南海北部的SST变化。ENSO的存在可能是造成这种负相关关系的直接原因。由于ENSO活动与季风区降雨量的关系存在区域性差异,南海北部SST与局部地区夏季风强度之间的关系仍需进一步的研究。