Isoscapes: a new dimension in community ecology

Cheesman, Alex W.;Cernusak, Lucas A.

Abstract

[Extract] The utility of stable isotopes in interpreting and recording aspects of environmental science, biogeochemistry, ecology and organismal physiology has long been established (Peterson and Fry 1987, Dawson et al. 2002). Examples range from the reconstruction of prehistoric human diets (Schoeninger et al. 1983) and tracing components of the hydrological cycle (Gat 1996), to differentiating C3 and C4 photosynthesis (Farquhar et al. 1989) and recording the humidity under which plants grow (Kahmen et al. 2011). Stable isotopes have proved invaluable in elucidating biological processes at multiple levels, and along with this there has been a recognition of the intrinsic information held within the observed patterns of stable isotopes across landscapes. For example, δ2H of stem water in understorey plants has been used to define areas influenced by hydraulic lift (Dawson 1993), while patterns of δ15N have been used to calculate the contribution of marine-derived nitrogen to Sitka spruce growing near salmon-spawning streams (Helfield and Naiman 2001).

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Tree Physiology

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1758-4469

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Heron Publishing

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DOI

10.1093/treephys/tpw099