Time-integrated δ²H in n-alkanes and carbohydrates from boreal needles reveal intra-annual physiological and environmental signals.

ABSTRACT: Reliable insights from key δ²H bioindicators, n-alkanes and carbohydrates, are hindered by our limited understanding of isotope fractionation processes related to leaf water and primary assimilates. We addressed this with the first study to investigate time-integrated intra-annual δ²H signals of n-alkanes and carbohydrates in a natural forest. We sampled 1-yr-old needles (1N) and current-year needles (0N) from five Scots Pine trees in a coniferous forest in Hyytiälä, Finland, biweekly during 2019. The δ²H of their n-alkanes (δ²H_alkane), water-soluble carbohydrates (δ²H_WSC) and starch (δ²H_starch) were evaluated for time-integrated physiological (gas-exchange) and environmental (hydrological) s

SUBMITTER: Angove C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11923416 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature