Determination of rhizosphere C-13 pulse signals in soil thin sections by laser ablation isotope ratio mass spectrometry

Bruneau, P.M.C., Ostle, N., Davidson, D.A., Grieve, I.C. and Fallick, A.E. (2002) Determination of rhizosphere C-13 pulse signals in soil thin sections by laser ablation isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 16(23), pp. 2190-2194. (doi: 10.1002/rcm.740)

Abstract

In grassland ecosystems, soil animals act as key soil engineers and architects. The diversity of soil animals is also a regulator of ecosystem carbon flow. However, our understanding of the link between soil animals, carbon fluxes and soil physical organisation remains poor. An integrated approach based on soil micromorphology and laser ablation stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (LA-IRMS) was developed to provide spatially distributed data of pulse-derived C-13 tracer from roots in the soil environment. This paper describes the development and testing of a LA-IRMS C-13/C-12 analytical method on soil thin sections as a means to determine the fate of root carbon derived from photosynthesis into soil. Results from this work demonstrated (1) that micro-scale delta(13)C (parts per thousand) analysis could be made on targeted features located within a soil thin section and (2) that LA- IRMS delta(13)C (parts per thousand) measurements made on samples obtained from (CO2)-C-13 Pulse labelled plant-soil blocks confirmed the presence of recent photosynthates in the rhizosphere (1 and 4 weeks post-pulse).

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Fallick, Professor Anthony
• Authors: Bruneau, P.M.C., Ostle, N., Davidson, D.A., Grieve, I.C., and Fallick, A.E.
• Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry; G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
• Journal Name: Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry
• ISSN: 0951-4198