Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5788363 | Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology | 2017 | 12 Pages |
â¢New stable carbon isotope analysis of modern Cedrus atlantica pollenâ¢Isotopic composition of pollen, sporopollenin, leaf and stem significantly relatedâ¢Sporopollenin Î13C significantly related to water availability and drought stressâ¢Potential to use Î13C signal for quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstructions
Stable carbon isotope analysis of pollen provides potential for reconstruction of past moisture availability in the environment on longer time-scales compared to isotope analysis of plant tissue. Here we show that the carbon isotopic compositions (δ13C) of pollen, sporopollenin, leaf and stem tissues of Cedrus atlantica are strongly related. Untreated pollen δ13C has a significant linear relationship with sporopollenin δ13C (r2 = 0.97, p < 0.0001) which is relatively depleted in 13C by an average 1.5â°. Carbon isotope discrimination (Î13C) by sporopollenin (derived from pollen δ13C values) is related to mean annual (r2 = 0.54, p < 0.001) and summer precipitation (r2 = 0.63, p < 0.0001). A 100 mm increase in mean annual precipitation results in sporopollenin Î13C increasing by 0.52â°, or by 1.4â° per 100 mm summer precipitation. There is a stronger relationship between sporopollenin Î13C and long-term annual scPDSI (r2 = 0.86, p < 0.0001) and summer scPDSI (r2 = 0.86, p < 0.001) aridity indexes, with reduced Î13C as aridity increases. These relationships suggest that stable carbon isotope analysis of C. atlantica fossil pollen could be used as a quantitative proxy for the reconstruction of summer moisture availability in Northwest Africa.
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