EGU21-2041
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2041
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Carbon and nitrogen isotopes in grasslands of northern China

Yuntao Wu1 and Zhaoliang Song1,2
Yuntao Wu and Zhaoliang Song
  • 1Tianjin University, School of Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, China (zhaoliang.song@tju.edu.cn)
  • 2Tianjin Key Laboratory of Earth Critical Zone Science and Sustainable Development in Bohai Rim, Tianjin University, China(zhaoliang.song@tju.edu.cn)

Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotopes are important traits to characterize terrestrial ecosystems. Studying the relationships between carbon and nitrogen isotopes of soils and plants in different grassland types and under different environmental conditions is of great importance to the reconstruction of past climate. In this study, we selected three different grassland ecosystems (temperate meadow steppe, temperate typical steppe and temperate desert steppe) in northern China, collected meteorological data and plant and soil samples, determined the basic physical and chemical properties, C and N isotopes to explore the patterns and controlling factors of C and N isotopes in plants and soils of grasslands in northern China. The results showed that there were significant differences in soil δ13C and δ15N between different grassland types in the northern temperate zone. The soil δ13C and δ15N of different depths of the northern temperate grassland soil increased with the increase of soil depth. The surface soil δ13C of temperate meadow steppe and temperate desert steppe had a good correlation with plant sample δ13C. The surface soil δ15N temperate typical steppe and temperate desert steppe had a good correlation with plant sample δ15N. Mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP) had a complicated relationship with carbon and nitrogen isotopes of surface soil and plant sample in northern temperate grassland. The surface soil δ13C and δ15N and the plant sample δ15N can be used as indicators of the change of MAT.

Keywords: carbon isotopes, nitrogen isotopes, grasslands, climate, soil depth

How to cite: Wu, Y. and Song, Z.: Carbon and nitrogen isotopes in grasslands of northern China, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-2041, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2041, 2021.

Displays

Display file