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Emerging topics in stable isotope ecology: are there isotope effects in plant respiration?
Author(s) -
Pataki Diane E.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01498.x
Subject(s) - photosynthesis , terrestrial plant , respiration , carbon cycle , carbon dioxide , terrestrial ecosystem , ecosystem , isotopes of carbon , atmosphere (unit) , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , environmental chemistry , stable isotope ratio , carbon fibers , ecology , chemistry , environmental science , biology , botany , total organic carbon , physics , quantum mechanics , materials science , composite number , composite material , thermodynamics
The ability to distinguish between ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ forms of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has proven to be a useful tool in the study of plant ecology and the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle. Plant processes imprint unique isotopic signatures on atmospheric CO 2 such that measurements of the ratio of heavy to light carbon in CO 2 can provide a means of detecting plant physiological processes integrated over whole canopies, ecosystems, or even regions. To interpret these measurements, a mechanistic understanding of the processes that affect the proportion of 12 CO 2 vs 13 CO 2 in the atmosphere is required, such as the well-known model of ‘discrimination’ against 13 CO 2 in photosynthesis caused by preferential diffusion and enzymatic reaction with 12 CO 2 (Farquhar et al ., 1982). In this issue, Hymus et al . (pp. 377– 384) show that short-term variations in isotopes of respiratory CO 2 under natural conditions may be as large as variations in photosynthesis, and may contain additional information about plant metabolic pathways that have not been fully explored.