Trends in stomatal density and [sup 13]C/[sup 12]C ratios of Pinus flexilis needles during last glacial-interglacial cycle
- Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
- Desert Lab., Tucson, AZ (United States)
Measurements of stomatal density and [sigma][sup 13]C of limber pine (Pinus flexilis) needles (leaves) preserved in pack rat middens from the Great Basin reveal shifts in plant physiology and leaf morphology during the last 30,000 years. Sites were selected so as to offset glacial to Holocene climatic differences and thus to isolate the effects of changing atmospheric CO[sub 2] levels. Stomatal density decreased [approximately]17 percent and [sigma][sup 13]C decreased [approximately]1.5 per mil during deglaciation from 15,000 to 12,000 years ago, concomitant with a 30 percent increase in atmospheric CO[sub 2]. Water-use efficiency increased [approximately]15 percent during deglaciation, if temperature and humidity were held constant and the proxy values for CO[sub 2] and [sigma][sup 13]C of past atmospheres are accurate. The [sigma][sup 13]C variations may help constrain hypotheses about the redistribution of carbon between the atmosphere and the biosphere during the last glacial-interglacial cycle.
- OSTI ID:
- 7274451
- Journal Information:
- Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Vol. 264:5156; ISSN 0036-8075
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CARBON DIOXIDE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
PLEISTOCENE EPOCH
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
STOMATA
AIR-BIOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
CARBON 13
CARBON CYCLE
CLIMATIC CHANGE
ISOTOPE RATIO
LEAVES
PINES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON ISOTOPES
CARBON OXIDES
CENOZOIC ERA
CHALCOGENIDES
CONIFERS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
GEOLOGIC AGES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
OPENINGS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEONTOLOGY
PINOPHYTA
PLANTS
QUATERNARY PERIOD
STABLE ISOTOPES
TREES
540220* - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)