Covariation between oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes declines along the path from xylem water to wood cellulose across an aridity gradient

Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of cellulose in plant biology are commonly used to infer environmental conditions, often from time series measurements of tree rings. However, the covariation (or the lack thereof) between δ18 O and δ2 H in plant cellulose is still poorly understood. We compared plant water, and leaf and branch cellulose from dominant tree species across an aridity gradient in Northern Australia, to examine how δ18 O and δ2 H relate to each other and to mean annual precipitation (MAP). We identified a decline in covariation from xylem to leaf water, and onwards from leaf to branch wood cellulose. Covariation in leaf water isotopic enrichment (Δ) was partially preserved in leaf cellulose but not branch wood cellulose. Furthermore, whilst δ2 H was well-correlated between leaf and branch, there was an offset in δ18 O between organs that increased with decreasing MAP. Our findings strongly suggest that postphotosynthetic isotope exchange with water is more apparent for oxygen isotopes, whereas variable kinetic and nonequilibrium isotope effects add complexity to interpreting metabolic-induced δ2 H patterns. Varying oxygen isotope exchange in wood and leaf cellulose must be accounted for when δ18 O is used to reconstruct climatic scenarios. Conversely, comparing δ2 H and δ18 O patterns may reveal environmentally induced shifts in metabolism.

Infidelity in the outback: climate signal recorded in Δ18O of leaf but not branch cellulose of eucalypts across an Australian aridity gradient

The isotopic composition of leaf water in terrestrial plants is highly dependent upon a plant's environment. This isotopic signature can become integrated into organic molecules, allowing the isotopic composition of biomarkers such as cellulose to be used as sensitive paleo and climatic proxies. However, the mechanisms by which cellulose isotopic composition reflect environmental conditions are complex, and may vary between leaf and woody tissues. To date few empirical tests have been made on the relative roles of leaf-water enrichment and source water on the isotopic composition of leaf and wood cellulose within the same plant. Here, we study both leaf and branch wood cellulose, as well as xylem/source water of eucalypts across a 900 km aridity gradient in NE Australia. Across 11 sites, spanning average annual precipitation of 235-1400 mm and average relative humidity of 33-70%, we found a strong and consistent trend in leaf cellulose. However, once the effect of altered source water was considered we found wood cellulose to show no trend across this environmental gradient. We consider potential mechanisms that could explain the 'damping' of a climatic signal within wood cellulose and consider the implication and limitations on the use of tree-ring cellulose as a climate proxy.