Strong correspondence between nitrogen isotope composition of foliage and chlorin across a rainfall gradient: implications for paleo-reconstruction of the nitrogen cycle

Goulden, Sara K. E.; Ohkouchi, Naohiko; Freeman, Katherine H.; Chikaraishi, Yoshito; Ogawa, Nanako O.; Suga, Hisami; Chadwick, Oliver; Houlton, Benjamin Z.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3869-2019

Articles | Volume 16, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3869-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3869-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 19

Research article

|

08 Oct 2019

Research article |

| 08 Oct 2019

Strong correspondence between nitrogen isotope composition of foliage and chlorin across a rainfall gradient: implications for paleo-reconstruction of the nitrogen cycle

Sara K. E. Goulden, Naohiko Ohkouchi, Katherine H. Freeman, Yoshito Chikaraishi, Nanako O. Ogawa, Hisami Suga, Oliver Chadwick, and Benjamin Z. Houlton

Data sets

Foliar, soil, litter, and chlorin data on carbon, nitrogen, and isotopes from a Hawaiian climosequence S. K. E. Goulden, N. Ohkouchi, K. H. Freeman, Y. Chikaraishi, N. O. Ogawa, H. Suga, O. Chadwick, and B. Z. Houlton https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.905053

Short summary

We investigate whether soil organic compounds preserve information about nitrogen availability to plants. We isolate chlorophyll degradation products in leaves, litter, and soil and explore possible species and climate effects on preservation and interpretation. We find that compound-specific nitrogen isotope measurements in soil have potential as a new tool to reconstruct changes in nitrogen cycling on a landscape over time, avoiding issues that have limited other proxies.