Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect
Lipid biomarkers are increasingly used to reconstruct past environmental and climate conditions. Leaf-wax-derived long-chain <i>n</i>-alkanes and <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids may have great potential for reconstructing past changes in vegetation, but the factors that affect the le...
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doaj-fc118be2aa984981b5be8a1f94f583f02020-11-24T22:48:01ZengCopernicus PublicationsSOIL2199-39712199-398X2016-10-012455156410.5194/soil-2-551-2016Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transectI. K. Schäfer0V. Lanny1J. Franke2T. I. Eglinton3M. Zech4B. Vysloužilová5R. Zech6Institute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandLandscape- & Geoecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Technical University of Dresden, 01062 Dresden, GermanyInstitute of Archaeology of Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Letenská 4, 11801 Prague 1, Czech RepublicInstitute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandLipid biomarkers are increasingly used to reconstruct past environmental and climate conditions. Leaf-wax-derived long-chain <i>n</i>-alkanes and <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids may have great potential for reconstructing past changes in vegetation, but the factors that affect the leaf wax distribution in fresh plant material, as well as in soils and sediments, are not yet fully understood and need further research. We systematically investigated the influence of vegetation and soil depth on leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect. The deciduous forest sites are often dominated by the <i>n</i>-C<sub>27</sub> alkane and <i>n</i>-C<sub>28</sub> alkanoic acid. Conifers produce few <i>n</i>-alkanes but show high abundances of the C<sub>24</sub> <i>n</i>-alkanoic acid. Grasslands are characterized by relatively high amounts of C<sub>31</sub> and C<sub>33</sub> <i>n</i>-alkanes and C<sub>32</sub> and C<sub>34</sub> <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids. Chain length ratios thus may allow for distinguishing between different vegetation types, but caution must be exercised given the large species-specific variability in chain length patterns. An updated endmember model with the new <i>n</i>-alkane ratio (<i>n</i>-C<sub>31</sub> + <i>n</i>-C<sub>33</sub>) / (<i>n</i>-C<sub>27</sub> + <i>n</i>-C<sub>31</sub> + <i>n</i>-C<sub>33</sub>) is provided to illustrate, and tentatively account for, degradation effects on <i>n</i>-alkanes.http://www.soil-journal.net/2/551/2016/soil-2-551-2016.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
I. K. Schäfer V. Lanny J. Franke T. I. Eglinton M. Zech B. Vysloužilová R. Zech |
spellingShingle |
I. K. Schäfer V. Lanny J. Franke T. I. Eglinton M. Zech B. Vysloužilová R. Zech Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect SOIL |
author_facet |
I. K. Schäfer V. Lanny J. Franke T. I. Eglinton M. Zech B. Vysloužilová R. Zech |
author_sort |
I. K. Schäfer |
title |
Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect |
title_short |
Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect |
title_full |
Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect |
title_fullStr |
Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect |
title_full_unstemmed |
Leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a European transect |
title_sort |
leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a european transect |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
series |
SOIL |
issn |
2199-3971 2199-398X |
publishDate |
2016-10-01 |
description |
Lipid biomarkers are increasingly used to reconstruct past environmental and
climate conditions. Leaf-wax-derived long-chain <i>n</i>-alkanes and <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids may have great potential for reconstructing past changes in vegetation, but the factors that affect the leaf wax distribution in fresh plant
material, as well as in soils and sediments, are not yet fully understood and
need further research. We systematically investigated the influence of
vegetation and soil depth on leaf waxes in litter and topsoils along a
European transect. The deciduous forest sites are often dominated by the
<i>n</i>-C<sub>27</sub> alkane and <i>n</i>-C<sub>28</sub> alkanoic acid. Conifers produce few <i>n</i>-alkanes but show high abundances of the C<sub>24</sub> <i>n</i>-alkanoic acid. Grasslands are characterized by relatively high amounts of C<sub>31</sub> and C<sub>33</sub> <i>n</i>-alkanes and C<sub>32</sub> and C<sub>34</sub> <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids. Chain
length ratios thus may allow for distinguishing between different vegetation
types, but caution must be exercised given the large species-specific
variability in chain length patterns. An updated endmember model with the new
<i>n</i>-alkane ratio (<i>n</i>-C<sub>31</sub> + <i>n</i>-C<sub>33</sub>) / (<i>n</i>-C<sub>27</sub> + <i>n</i>-C<sub>31</sub> + <i>n</i>-C<sub>33</sub>) is provided to illustrate, and tentatively account for, degradation effects on <i>n</i>-alkanes. |
url |
http://www.soil-journal.net/2/551/2016/soil-2-551-2016.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT ikschafer leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect AT vlanny leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect AT jfranke leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect AT tieglinton leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect AT mzech leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect AT bvyslouzilova leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect AT rzech leafwaxesinlitterandtopsoilsalongaeuropeantransect |
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1725680059330592768 |