Climatic information from δ13C in plants by combining statistical and mechanistic approaches

Abstract

The approach commonly used to assess the potential for climate reconstruction is to use linear regressions to compare the isotopic signal stored in archives to instrumental climatic data sets. A new method is proposed that combines statistical and mechanistic approaches to extract climatic information from δ¹³C records in organic matter. Both a spatial and a temporal gradient of ¹³C discrimination in a moss species commonly found in temperate and tropical peat bogs are compared to meteorological records. The relevance of fossil and modem analogues to elucidate palaeoenvironment records are tested. It was found that the magnitude and, in some cases, the direction of the impact of temperature, humidity and CO₂ atmospheric concentration on 13C discrimination depend on the calibration set considered. The use of a mechanistic model is shown to help greatly in specifying the joint influence of the climatic variables.

Keywords

Carbon isotopes plant organic matter Sphagnum species modem analogue climate reconstruction statistical and mechanistic approache

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson, W.T. , Bernasconi, S.M. and McKenzie, J.A. 1998: Oxygen and carbon isotopic record of climatic variability in tree ring cellulose (Piceas abies): an example from central Switzerland (1913-1995) . Journal of Geophysical Research 103(D24), 625-631 .

Anderson, W.T. , Bernasconi, S.M. , McKenzie, J.A. , Saurer, M. and Schweingruber, F. 2002: Model evaluation for reconstructing the oxygen isotopic composition in precipitation from tree ring cellulose over the last century . Chemical Geology 182, 121-137 .

Appleby, P.G. , Nolan, P.J. , Godfrey, M.J. , Oldfield, F. , Anderson, N.J. and Battarbee, R.W. 1986: 210Pb dating by low background gamma counting . Hydrobiologia 141, 21-27 .

Appleby, P.G. , Shotyk, W. and Fankhauser, A. 1997: 210Pb age dating of three peat cores in the Jura Mountains, Switzerland . Water Air and Soil Pollution 100(3/4), 223-231 .

Aucour, A.-M. , Bonnefille, R. and Hillaire-Marcel, C. 1999: Sources and accumulation rates of organic carbon in an equatorial peat bog (Burundi, East Africa) during the Holocene: carbon isotope constraints . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 150, 179-189 .

Aucour, A.-M. , Hillaire-Marcel, C. and Bonnefile, R. 1996: Oxygen isotopes in cellulose from modem and Quaternary intertropical peatbogs: implications for paleohydrology . Chemical Geology 129, 341-359 .

Borella, S. 1998: Stable isotope measurments of oxygen and carbon in tree rings: method improvements and synergy of both parameters for ecological and climatological studies. Universitat Bern , 231 231 pp.

Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001: Development of the radiocarbon program OxCal . Radiocarbon 43(2A), 355-363 .

Davidson, R. and MacKinnon, J. 2004: Econometric theory and methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press , 750 750 pp.

10.

Edwards, T.W.D. , Aravena, R.O. , Fritz, P. and Morgan, A.V. 1985: Interpreting paleoclimate from 180 and 2H in plant cellulose: comparison with evidence from fossil insects and relict permafrost in south-western Ontario . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 22, 1720-1726 .

11.

Edwards, T.W.D. , Graf, W. , Trimborn, P. , Stichler, W. , Lipp, J. and Payer, D. 2000: 613C response surface resolves humidity and temperature signals in trees . Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 64(2), 161-167 .

12.

Farquhar, G.D. , O'Leary, M.H. and Berry, J.A. 1982: On the relationships between carbon isotope discrimination and the intercellular carbon dioxide concentration in leaves . Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 9, 121-137 .

13.

Fauquette, S. , Guiot, J. and Syc, J.-P. 1998: A method for climatic reconstruction of the Mediterranean Pliocene using pollen data . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 144, 183-201 .

14.

Figge, R.A. and White, J.W.C. 1995: High-resolution Holocene and late glacial atmospheric CO2 record: Variability tied to changes in thermohaline circulation . Global Biogeochemical Cycle 9(3), 391-403 .

15.

Francey, R.J. Allison, C.E. , Etheridge, D.M. , Trudinger, C.M. , Enting, I.G. , Leuenberger, M. , Langenfelds, R.L. , Michel, E. and Steele, L.P. 1998: A 1000 year high precision record of 613C in atmospheric CO2 . Tellus 51B(2), 170-193 .

16.

Francey, R.J. , Tans, P.P. , Allison, C.E. , Enting, I.G. , White, J.W.C. and Trolier, M. 1995: Changes in oceanic and terrestrial carbon uptake since 1982 . Nature 373, 326-330 .

17.

Friedli, H. , Lotscher, H. , Oeschger, H. , Siegenthaler, U. and Stauffer, B. 1986: Ice core record of the 13C/12C ratio of atmospheric CO2 in the past two centuries . Nature 324, 237-238 .

18.

Hong, Y.T. , Jiang, H.B. , Liu, T.S. , Zhou, L.P. , Beer, J. , Li, H.D. , Leng, X.T. , Hong, B. and Qin, X.G. 2000: Response of climate to solar forcing in a 6000-years 6180 time series of Chinese peat cellulose . The Holocene 10, 1-7 .

19.

Keeling, C.D. , Whorf, T.P. , Wahlen, M. and van der Plicht, J. 1995: Interannual extremes in the rate of rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1980 . Nature 375, 666-670 .

20.

Korner, C. , Farquhar, G.D. and Wong, S.C. 1991: Carbon isotope discrimination by plants follows latitudinal and altitudinal trends . Oecologia 88, 30-40 .

21.

Leavitt, S.W. and Long, A. 1982: Evidence for 13C/12C fractionation between tree leaves and wood . Nature 298, 742-744 .

22.

Lipp, J. , Trimborn, P. , Edwards, T. , Waisel, Y. and Yakir, D. 1996: Climatic effects on the 6180 and the 613C of cellulose in the desert tree Tamarixjordanis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60(17), 3305-3309 .

23.

Minot, G. and Burns, S.J. 2001: Carbon isotopes in ombrogenic peat bog plants as climatic indicators: Calibration from an altitudinal transect in Switzerland . Organic Geochemistry 32(2), 233-245 .

24.

Morecroft, M.D. and Woodward, F.I. 1990: Experimental investigations on the environmenal determination of 613C at different altitudes . Journal of Experimental Botany 41(231), 1303-1308 .

25.

Murray, K.J. , Harley, P.C. , Beyers, J. , Walz, H. and Tenhunen, J.D. 1989: Water content effects on photosynthetic response of Sphagnum mosses from the foothills of the Philip Smith Mountains, Alaska . Oecologia 79, 244-250 .

26.

O'Leary, M.H. 1988: Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis . BioScience 38, 328-336 .

27.

Pendall, E. , Markgraf, V. , Huber, U. , White, J.W.C. , Dreier, M. and Kenny, R. 2001: A multiproxy record of Pleistocene-Holocene climate and vegetation changes from a peat bog in Tierra del Fuego . Quaternary Research 55(2), 168-178 .

28.

Price, G.D. , McKenzie, J.E. , Pilcher, J.R. and Hoper, S.T. 1997: Carbon-isotope variation in Sphagnum from hummock-hollow complexes: implications for Holocene climate reconstruction . The Holocene 7, 229-233 .

29.

Proctor, M.C.F. 1982: Physiological ecology: water relations, light and temperature responses, carbon balance. In Smith, A.J.E. , editor, Bryophyte ecology London and New York: Chapman and Hall , 333-381.

30.

Proctor, M.C.F. , Raven, J.A. and Rice, S.K. 1992: Stable carbon isotope discrimination measurements in Sphagnum and other bryophytes: physiological and ecological implications . Journal of Bryology 17, 193-202 .

31.

Rice, S.K. and Giles, L. 1996: The influence of water content and leaf anatomy on carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis in Sphagnum. Plant, Cell and Environment 19, 118-124 .

32.

Robertson, I. , Waterhouse, J.S. , Barker, A.C. , Carter, A.H.C. and Switsur, V.R. 2001: Oxygen isotope ratios of oak in east England: implications for reconstructing the isotopic composition of precipitation . Earth and Planetary Science Letters 191, 21-31 .

33.

Saurer, M. and Siegenthaler, U. 1995: The climate-carbon isotope relationship in tree rings and the significance of site conditions . Tellus 47B(3), 320-330 .

34.

Schieser, G.H. , Helie, G. , Lucke, A. and Vos, H. 1999: Isotope signals as climate proxies: the role of transfer functions in the study of terrestrial archives . Quaternary Science Reviews 18(7), 927-943 .

35.

Silvola, J. 1985: CO2 dependence of photosynthesis in certain forest and peat mosses and simulated photosynthesis at various actual and hypothetical C02 concentrations . Lindbergia 11, 86-93 .

36.

von Caemmerer, S. and Evans, J.R. 1991: Determination of the average partial pressure of CO2 in chloroplasts from leaves of several C3 plants . Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 18, 287-305 .

37.

Wardenaar, E.C.P. 1987: A new hand tool for cutting peat profiles . Canadian Journal of Botony 65, 1772-1773 .

38.

White, J.W.C. , Ciais, P. , Figge, R.A. , Kenny, R. and Margraft, V. 1994a: A high-resolution record of atmospheric CO2 content from carbon isotopes in peat . Nature 367, 153-156 .

39.

White, J.W.C. , Figge, R.A. , Markraft, V. , Ciais, P. and Kenny, R. 1994b: Climate in the Pleistocene . Nature 371, 111-112 .

40.

Wilf, P. , Wing, S.L. , Greenwood, D.R. and Greenwood, C.L. 1998: Using fossil leaves as paleoprecipitation indicators: an Eocene example . Geology 26(3), 203-206 .