Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:20:57.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A technique for determining the proportion of C3 and C4 species in plant samples using stable natural isotope's of carbon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. M. Ludlow ,
J. H. Troughton  and
R. J. Jones
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A technique is described which uses the ratio of the natural 12C and 13C isotopes of carbon to calculate the proportions of Calvin pathway (or C3) species and C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway (or C4) species in mixed samples of shoots, roots or seeds. Mean percentage of a particular component can be predicted to within ± 2% of actual values with average standard errors of less than 1% with two component mixtures under good conditions using threefold replication. The technique is particularly useful for estimating the proportion of C3 and C4 species in samples of visually indistinguishable, intermingled root systems from mixed field communities or from competition experiments. The proportion of C3 and C4 species in both oesophageal fistula and feed samples can be obtained using this technique, and it is proposed that data from fistula and pasture samples could be used to determine the extent to which animals selectively eat C3 or C4 species. The advantages and disadvantages of the technique are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 87 , Issue 3 , December 1976 , pp. 625 - 632
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, C. B. & Balch, C. C. (1961). Saliva excretion and its relation to feeding in cattle. II. The composition and rate of secretion of mixed saliva in the cow during rest. British Journal of Nutrition 15, 383–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bender, M. M. (1968). Mass speotrometrio studies of carbon 13 variations in corn and other grasses. Radiocarbon 10, 468–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, J. A. & Troughton, J. H. (1974). Carbon isotope fractionation by C3 and C4 plants in ‘closed’ and ‘open’ atmospheres. Yearbook Carnegie Institution of Washington 73, 785–90.Google Scholar
Cooper, C. S., Hyder, D. N., Peterson, R. G. & Sueva, F. A. (1957). The constituent differential method of estimating species composition in mixed hay. Agronomy Journal 49, 190–3.Google Scholar
Degens, E. T. (1969). Biogeochemistry of stable carbon isotopes. In Organic Geochemistry (ed. Eglinton, G. and Murphy, M. T.), chap. 12, pp. 304–29. Berlin: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Hamilton, B. A. & Hall, D. G. (1975). Estimation of the botanical composition of oesophageal extrusa samples. 1. A modified microscopic point technique. Journal of the British Grassland Society 30, 229–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harker, K. W., Torell, D. T. & Van Dyne, G. M. (1964). Botanical examination of forage from oesophageal fistulas in cattle. Journal of Animal Science 23, 465–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerman, J. C. (1975). How to interpret variations in the carbon isotope ratio of plants: biological and environmental effects. In Environmental and Biological Control of Photosynthesis (ed. Mareelle, R.), pp. 323–35. The Hague: Dr W. Junk.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litav, M. & Harper, J. L. (1967). A method for studying spatial relationships between root systems of two neighbouring plants. Plant and Soil 26, 389–92.Google Scholar
Marcelle, R. (ed.) (1975). Environmental and Biological Control of Photosynthesis. The Hague: Dr W. Junk.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J., Ludlow, M. M. & Troughton, J. H. (1975). Differences in the natural carbon isotope ratios of milk and hair from cattle grazing tropical and temperate pastures. Nature, London 256, 602.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nielson, J. A. (1964). Autoradiography for studying individual root systems in mixed herbaceous stands. Ecology 45, 644–6.Google Scholar
Park, R. & Epstein, S. (1960). Carbon isotope fractionation during photosynthesis. Qeochimica et Cosmochimica Ada 21, 110–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B. N. (1972). Natural abundance of the stable isotopes of carbon in biological systems. BioScience 22, 226–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B. N. & Epstein, S. (1970). Biogeochemistry of the stable isotopes of hydrogen and carbon in salt marsh biota. Plant Physiology, Lancaster 46, 738–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, B. N. & Epstein, S. (1971). Two categories of 12C/12C ratios for higher plants. Plant Physiology, Lancaster 47, 380–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B. N. & Benedict, C. R. (1974). Carbon isotope ratios of chemical constituents of Panicum maximum L. Plant and Cell Physiology 15, 949–51.Google Scholar
Smith, B. N., Oliver, J. & Macmillan, C. (1976). Influence of carbon source, oxygen concentration, light intensity, and temperature, on 18C/12C ratios in plant tissues. Botanical Gazette 137, 99–104.Google Scholar
Smith, B. N. & Turner, B. L. (1975). Distribution of Kranz syndrome among Asteraceae. American Journal of Botany 62, 541–5.Google Scholar
Stobbs, T. H. (1969). The effect of grazing management upon pasture productivity in Uganda. IV. Selective grazing. Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad 46, 303–9.Google Scholar
Troughton, J. H. (1971). Aspects of the evolution of the photosynthetic carboxylation reaction in plants.In Photosynthesis and Photorespiration (ed. Hatch, M. D., Osmond, C. B. and Slatyer, R. O.), pp. 124–9. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Troughton, J. H., Wells, P. V. & Mooney, H. A. (1974). Photosynthetic mechanisms and paleoeoology from carbon isotope ratios in ancient specimens of C4 and CAM plants. Science 185, 610–12.Google Scholar
Troughton, J. H. & Card, K. A. (1975). Temperature effects on the carbon-isotope ratio of C3, C4 and Crassulacean-acid-metabolism (CAM) plants. Planta 123, 185–90.Google Scholar
Troughton, J. H., Card, K. A. & Hendy, C. H. (1974). Photosynthetic pathways and carbon isotope discrimination by plants. Yearbook Carnegie Institution of Washington 73, 768–80.Google Scholar
Troughton, J. H., Stout, J. D. & Raster, T. (1974). Long-term stability of plant communities. Yearbook Carnegie Institution of Washington 73, 838–45.Google Scholar
Whelan, T., Sackett, W. M. & Benedict, C. R. (1970). Carbon isotope fractionation in a plant possessing the C4 dicarboxylio acid pathway. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 41, 1205–10.Google Scholar
Whelan, T., Sackett, W. M. & Benedict, C. R. (1973). Enzymatic fractionation of carbon isotopes by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from C4 plants. Plant Physiology, Lancaster 51, 1051–4.Google Scholar