Natural isotope variation forms a mosaic of isotopically distinct pools across the biosphere and flows between pools integrate plant ecology with global biogeochemical cycling. Carbon, nitrogen, and water isotopic ratios (among others) can be measured in plant tissues, at root and foliar interfaces, and in adjacent atmospheric, water, and soil environments. Natural abundance isotopes provide ecological insight to complement and enhance biogeochemical research, such as understanding the physiological conditions during photosynthetic assimilation (e.g. water stress) or the contribution of unusual plant water or nutrient sources (e.g. fog, foliar deposition). While foundational concepts and methods have endured through four decades of research, technological improvements that enable measurement at fine spatiotemporal scales, of multiple isotopes, and of isotopomers, are advancing the field of stable isotope ecology. For example, isotope studies now benefit from the maturation of field-portable infrared spectroscopy, which allows the exploration of plant–environment sensitivity at physiological timescales. Isotope ecology is also benefiting from, and contributing to, new understanding of the plant–soil–atmosphere system, such as improving the representation of soil carbon pools and turnover in land surface models. At larger Earth-system scales, a maturing global coverage of isotope data and new data from site networks offer exciting synthesis opportunities to merge the insights of single-or multi-isotope analysis with ecosystem and remote sensing data in a data-driven modeling framework, to create geospatial isotope products essential for studies of global environmental change.
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May 2021
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In recent years, an array of emerging technologies are propelling plant science in new directions and allowing for the integration of data across multiple scales. This special issue on Emerging Topics in Plant Science brings together reviews that spotlight a range of technologies that are changing how we ask questions and integrate those questions from the macromolecular to ecosystem scales.
Review Article|
February 26 2021
Tracing plant–environment interactions from organismal to planetary scales using stable isotopes: a mini review
Gavin McNicol
;
1Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
Correspondence: Gavin McNicol ([email protected])
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Zhongjie Yu;
Zhongjie Yu
2Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, U.S.A.
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Z. Carter Berry;
Z. Carter Berry
3Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, U.S.A.
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Nathan Emery;
Nathan Emery
4Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, U.S.A.
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Fiona M. Soper;
Fiona M. Soper
5Department of Biology and Bieler School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Wendy H. Yang
Wendy H. Yang
6Departments of Plant Biology and Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, U.S.A.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
December 06 2020
Revision Received:
January 28 2021
Accepted:
January 29 2021
Online ISSN: 2397-8562
Print ISSN: 2397-8554
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology
2021
Emerg Top Life Sci (2021) 5 (2): 301–316.
Article history
Received:
December 06 2020
Revision Received:
January 28 2021
Accepted:
January 29 2021
Citation
Joseph M. Jez, Christopher N. Topp, Gavin McNicol, Zhongjie Yu, Z. Carter Berry, Nathan Emery, Fiona M. Soper, Wendy H. Yang; Tracing plant–environment interactions from organismal to planetary scales using stable isotopes: a mini review. Emerg Top Life Sci 21 May 2021; 5 (2): 301–316. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20200277
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