A dual-isotope approach to allow conclusive partitioning between three sources.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26530521.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms9708 and PMC identifier 4667633.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Stable isotopes have proved to be a transformative tool; their application to distinguish between two sources in a mixture has been a cornerstone of biogeochemical research. However, quantitatively partitioning systems using two stable isotopes (for example, (13)C and (12)C) has been largely limited to only two sources, and systems of interest often have more than two components, with interactive effects. Here we introduce a dual-isotope approach to allow conclusive partitioning between three sources, using only two stable isotopes. We demonstrate this approach by partitioning soil CO2 emissions derived from microbial mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC), added pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) and root respiration. We find that SOC mineralization in the presence of roots is 23% higher (P<0.05) when PyOM is also present. Being able to discern three sources with two isotopes will be of great value not only in biogeochemical research, but may also expand hitherto untapped methodologies in diverse fields.
Medical subject headings
- Carbon Dioxide
- Carbon Isotopes
- Soil