The δD records of n-alkane and n-alkanoic acid of tropical trees reflect
δD of precipitation during the early stages of the leaf growth
Abstract
The hydrogen isotopic compositions of the leaf-wax n-alkanes (δDalk) and
n-alkanoic acids (δDacid) are known to reflect ambient climatic
conditions (including precipitation δD values, δDPrecip). However, the
climatic conditions of exactly which period (i.e. early or entire period
of the leaf’s lifespan) these biomarkers represent, i.e. the seasonality
in δDalk and δDacid records, is still evolving. The seasonality studies
on the δDalk and δDacid values, done only in extra-tropical regions,
mostly indicate the δDalk values are biased towards the early growing
season whereas δDacid values are not biased towards any season. To
decipher the seasonality in the δDalk and δDacid records from the
tropics, we conducted a long-duration experiment wherein deciduous and
evergreen species were grown using normal water (δD = −2‰) during the
early stages of the leaf's growth and later using isotopically-labeled
water (δD = 1000‰). Our experiment revealed (i) in deciduous and
evergreen species, δDalk and δDacid values reflect δDPrecip during the
early stages of the leaf's growth, (ii) synchronous synthesis of
n-alkanes and n-alkanoic acids, and (iii) in deciduous species, minor
incorporation of the previous year’s photosynthates in the leaf wax pool
of the current year’s mature leaves. Our study suggests that the δDalk
and δDacid records in the tropics are biased towards the climatic
conditions prevailing during the early stages of the leaf's growth. This
bias should be considered while comparing the δDPrecip values generated
from the leaf wax proxy records and isotope-enabled atmospheric
circulation models.