HS10.6

Long-standing ecological theory establishes that the isotopic composition of the plant water reflects that of the root-accessed sources, at least in non-saline or non-xeric environments. However, a growing number of studies challenge this assumption by reporting plant-source offsets in water isotopic composition, for a wide range of ecosystems. We conducted a global meta-analysis to systematically quantify the magnitude of this plant-source offset in water isotopic composition and its potential explanatory factors. We compiled 108 studies reporting dual water isotopic composition (δ²H and δ¹⁸O) of plant and source water. From these studies, we extracted the δ²H and δ¹⁸O of both plant and source waters for 223 plant species from artic to tropical biomes. For each species and sampling campaign, within each study, we calculated the mean line conditioned excess (LC-excess), with the slope and intercept of the local meteoric water line, and the mean soil water line conditioned excess (SWL-excess), from the slope and intercept of the soil water evaporation line. For each study site and sampling campaign, we obtained land surface temperature and volumetric soil water from the ERA5 database. For each study species, we recorded the functional type, leaf habit and for those available wood density. We found, on average, a significantly negative SWL-excess: plant water was systematically more depleted in δ²H than soil water. In > 90% of the cases with significantly negative SWL-excess, we also found negative LC-excess values, meaning that access to sources alternative to soil water was unlikely to explain negative SWL-excess values. 

Calculated SWL-excess was affected by temperature and humidity: there were larger mismatches between plant and source water in isotopic composition in colder and wetter sites. Angiosperms, broadleaved and deciduous species exhibited more negative SWL-excess values than gymnosperms, narrow-leaved and evergreen species. Our results suggest that when using the dual isotopic approach, potential biases in the adscription of plant water sources are more likely in broadleaved forests in humid, and cold regions. Potential underlying mechanism for these isotopic mismatches will be discussed.

How to cite: de la Casa, J., Barbeta, A., Rodriguez-Uña, A., Wingate, L., Ogeé, J., and Gimeno, T. E.: A global meta-analysis reveals a significant offset in δ2H between plant water and its sources, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-12207, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12207, 2021.

Isotopic tracing is de rigueur in ecohydrology and for quantifying tracing water sources that contribute to xylem water. But, tree transpiration is not a one dimensional process from roots to leaves. Three dimensional storages actively participate in water transport within the stem complicating in unknown ways, the otherwise straightforward tracing from source to xylem. Phloem is the largest elastic storage and works as a hydraulic capacitor, and as such is of great importance to tree water transport and functioning. Water stored in phloem moves into xylem vessels buffering changes in xylem water potential and sustaining tree hydraulic integrity. Although phloem water is of great importance to transpiration, we lack understanding about the relationship between xylem and phloem water isotopic composition. Assessing the isotopic composition of phloem is a needed next step to fully comprehend patterns of tree water use and improve understanding about isotopic offset between xylem and source water. Here we show daily and sub-daily dual-isotope measurements of phloem water in relation to xylem and leaf water in Salix viminalis along with high-resolution measurements of plant water status and transpiration rates in a large lysimeter. We found that phloem was more depleted in heavier isotopes than xylem and leaves. On average δ²H phloem water was 2.05 ‰ and δ¹⁸O phloem water was 0.66 ‰ more negative than xylem water. The largest difference observed between phloem and xylem isotopic composition occurred at night during a period of tree water deficit. Although, there was variability in the observed difference between xylem and phloem throughout the experiment, xylem and phloem isotopic composition were highly correlated (δ²H r = 0.89; δ¹⁸O r = 0.75). Our sub daily measurements showed that xylem and phloem differences decreased during predawn and morning compared to previous evening and midday measurements. We observed that the δ²H difference between phloem and xylem increased with the increase in daily use of phloem water storages, while δ¹⁸O difference between phloem and xylem increased with transpiration rate. Our results show that xylem and phloem isotope composition are in sync and that observed differences can be related to changes in plant water status and possible fractionation associated with transport within phloem-xylem. Further studies are necessary to understand how phloem affects source water interpretations across different tree species and larger trees, where phloem contribution to daily transpiration may be larger.

How to cite: Nehemy, M. F., Paolo, B., Rinaldo, A., and McDonnell, J. J.: The isotopic composition of phloem water and its relations to xylem water at daily and sub-daily resolutions, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-11487, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-11487, 2021.

Different water sources can contribute to plant transpiration in Alpine environments, such as rainfall, snowmelt, irrigation and/or stream waters that are temporarily stored in the vadose and saturated zones. Particularly, the proportion of water uptake from different soil depths can strikingly differ depending on the species and the local environmental conditions such as the availability of freshwater resources, and local climatic and pedological settings.

We aim at estimating the relative contributions of different water sources (i.e., soil water at various depths and groundwater) to tree transpiration with the use of stable water isotopes. Our work is part of a wider national project (WATZON: WATer mixing in the critical ZONe) studying the relationship between plants, soil and water in contrasting natural and semi-natural environments of Italy. Here we report the results of monitoring activities in two different ecosystems in South-Tyrol (Eastern Italian Alps): an apple orchard growing on a deep (>2.5 m) sandy soil of the Adige floodplain (Binnenland), and a sub-alpine conifer forest located on steep slopes with a shallow (10-60 cm) skeletal soil (Mazia, 2000 mt a.s.l.), where we selected European larch (Larix decidua) as a model-species. Water (precipitation, stream water, groundwater), soil at different depths and twigs samples were collected fortnightly from May to November 2020, and weather conditions (automatic stations), soil parameters (moisture and temperature) at different depths and sapflow were continuously recorded over the entire period.

At both locations, precipitation waters had a heavier isotopic composition than stream water and groundwater, that did not show any significant difference between each other in terms of isotopic signature. While all these potential water sources plotted on the local meteoric water line, shallow soil water samples (5-15 cm) deviated from it revealing a stronger and more variable evaporative fractionation when compared with those of deeper soil (25-65 cm). Xylem water samples from apple trees at Binnenland overlapped with soil water samples, more consistently at 10-30 cm depths. This water mostly derived from infiltrated rainwater but with a non-negligible contribution from groundwater during July and August. In contrast, xylem water from larch trees at Mazia plotted on the local meteoric water line, and had an isotopic composition more similar to that of precipitation than soil water even for samples collected after several days of drying out. As sapflow measurements of larches revealed a continuous transpiration, it is unlikely that trees took up water only soon after precipitation events. Instead, we hypothesize that larches at Mazia likely rely on a water pool which is different from the soil (e.g., rock moisture).

These contrasting ecohydrological systems reveal different strategies of water use by dwelling plants in natural and anthropic systems, showing a distinct sensitivity and resilience to changing climate.

How to cite: Brighenti, S., Bertoldi, G., Aguzzoni, A., Zanotellii, D., Obojes, N., Tagliavini, M., Zuecco, G., Borga, M., Penna, D., Fabiani, G., and Comiti, F.: Apple trees, larches and their water uptake: distinct ecohydrological systems in contrasting environmental settings?, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-8211, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8211, 2021.

Understanding the dynamics and sources of root water uptake in agricultural systems is becoming increasingly important for implementing efficient and sustainable water resources management and, at the same time, for optimizing crop yield and quality under changing climatic conditions. In this work, we adopted the stable isotope approach to investigate the water sources accessed by apple trees in two orchards growing in the upper Etsch/Adige valley (South Tyrol, Eastern Italian Alps). We tested the general hypothesis that soil water, composed of a mixture of rain and irrigation water, was the main source for tree transpiration but that river water and groundwater mixed with soil water and contributed to root uptake for trees growing close to the river and with higher water table. Our results revealed that apple trees during the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons relied mostly on soil water present in the upper 20-40 cm of soils, with an apparently negligible contribution of groundwater and river water, irrespective of the field position across the valley bottom. The isotopic composition of xylem water did not reflect the one of irrigation water (and neither that of groundwater) but rather of rainfall and throughfall, as well as that of soil water. We related this “hidden” tracer signature of irrigation water to the effect of soil evaporation that strongly modified its original isotopic composition: irrigation and rain water infiltrated into the soil and mixed with isotopically fractionated soil water, and trees took up a mixture of water with different isotopic composition compared to the one of the original irrigation source. This work contributes to improve the understanding of water uptake strategies in Alpine apple orchards and paves the way for further analysis on the proportion of irrigation and rain water used by apple trees in mountain agroecosystems.

How to cite: Penna, D., Frentress, J., Zanotelli, D., Scandellari, F., Aguzzoni, A., Engel, M., Tagliavini, M., and Comiti, F.: Water sources for apple trees in Alpine orchards: where does irrigation water go?, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-9289, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9289, 2021.

The scarcity of water resources is an important issue in urbanization. Urban forest land water consumption accounts for a large part of urban water resources, the study of water uptake patterns in urban forest area is crucial for urban water saving and precision irrigation, but no identified research have investigated water uptake patterns in urban forest area until now. In this study, we measured the deuterium isotope ratio (δD) and the oxygen isotope ratio (δ¹⁸O) of precipitation, irrigation water, xylem water and soil water sources in a locust tree forest in Jinnan District of Tianjin City, China across 2019-2020. Water sources proportion in the root zone area of different growing seasons were obtained by IsoSource model, MixSIR model and SIAR model. Results show that there is a significant difference in soil moisture content between different stand age locust trees in time and depth variation. The trend of soil moisture of different stand ages of locust in time sequence intend to increase first and then decrease, the most significantly change of soil water content happened in shallow layer (0~40 cm). The change in vertical depth is about the same. The soil profile of 0-200 cm was discretized into three layers. The shallow layer (0~40 cm) soil water δD and δ¹⁸O fluctuated widely and decreased with the depth increased. This study revealed the dynamic replenishment of the root zone water in urban forest land, and provides insights into reforestation and water management in urban area.

How to cite: Lan, Z., Chen, H., Li, H., Huang, J. J., McBean, E., Zhang, J., and Gao, J.: Applying stable water isotopes to determine root water uptake patterns in an urban forest land, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-8136, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8136, 2021.

Research on ecohydrological separation and plant water use have been increasing in the last few years, and various studies indicate that trees can use winter precipitation as a dominant water source during the growing season. Such studies are of great importance to northern regions, where soil water recharge timing is predicted to be significantly altered due to climate change. In order to assess plant water use in sub-arctic environment, it is necessary to understand how soil water pools under different land covers evolve throughout the year and how cryogenic processes alter the isotope input signal. This field study was conducted from May 2019 to June 2020 in Pallas catchment, located in sub-arctic conditions in Finnish Lapland. Soil cores up to 1 meter depth with 5 cm increments and xylem water of dominant tree species were collected in 4 locations, ranging from forest to shrubland/forest transitional area, and to forested peatland. All locations are positioned on a snow survey, in the vicinity of previously installed groundwater wells and snow lysimeters, and within 2 kilometers of rain gauge. Additional spatial samples of topsoil and xylem water were collected throughout the catchment during 2019 growing season. Relative proportions of tree source water were calculated by Bayesian mixing model MixSIAR. We produce new data set that displays plot and catchment scale soil water heterogeneities in a snow dominated environment, and examine: i) How soil properties affect isotopic composition of soil water?; ii) What is the effect of rising groundwater level on soil water isotope composition?; and iii) How snowpack thickness and melt timing modify soil water isotope patterns? We analyze if these varying pools of water are reflected in tree xylem water. Soil water isotope dynamics under deep snowpack, during and after snowmelt reveal how snow accumulation and melt timing and magnitude influence plant available water for growing season.

How to cite: Muhic, F., Ala-Aho, P., Marttila, H., and Klöve, B.: Drivers of spatial and temporal soil water isotope variability in a sub-arctic catchment, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14845, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14845, 2021.

Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope compositions in soil waters have been widely used to investigate hydrologic cycles, particularly for understanding plant water usage. However, most studies of soil water isotopes have traditionally ignored the importance of O-horizon that may potentially influence the accurate evaluation of hydrologic processes, especially in alpine regions where O-horizon are thick due to low temperatures. Therefore, we investigated the isotopic differences (via mean effect size, lnRR) of waters from O-horizon and 0–10 cm soil layer in grasslands and woodlands of Western Sichuan alpine regions and evaluated the influences of climatic and biotic factors on observed differences. The results indicated that the δ²H and δ¹⁸O of O-horizon water were significantly higher than those of the 0–10 cm soil layer in grasslands, but these differences were not significant in woodlands. The influence of climatic factors on lnRR was limited relative to biotic factors, and the influence of climate contrasted with expectations based on evaporation principles. Rather, above ground biomass (AGB) was the most important factor associated with lnRR and it was significantly correlated with lnRR between and within soil waters from two vegetation types. Consequently, the observed differences were mainly related to vegetation conditions that influence microclimates within canopies. Therefore, investigations of hydrological processes may inaccurately estimate their influences when not separately considering the high stable isotopes values of O-horizon in grasslands of alpine regions with thin soil layers. In particular, the influence of O-horizon should especially be considered when AGB was lower than 100 t/hm² not only in grassland but also in other vegetation types.

How to cite: Qin, W., Chen, G., Wang, P., Wang, X., and Li, X.: The influences of climatic and biotic parameters on the isotopic offset among topsoil waters in typical vegetation types in alpine, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-5182, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5182, 2021.

Environmental tracers, present in the environment and provided by nature, provide integrative information about both water flow and transport. For studying water flow and solute transport, the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes are of special interest, as their ratios provide a tracer signal with every precipitation event and are seasonally distributed. In order to follow the seasonal distribution of stable isotopes in the soil water and use this information for identifying hydrological processes and hydraulic properties, soil was sampled three times in three profiles, two on Krško polje aquifer in SE Slovenia and one on Ljubljansko polje in central Slovenia. Isotope composition of soil water was measured with the water-vapor-equilibration method. Based on the isotope composition of soil water integrative information about water flow and transport processes with time and depth below ground were assessed. Porewater isotopes were in similar range as precipitation for all three profiles.  Variable isotope ratios in the upper 60 cm for the different sampling times indicated dynamic water fluxes in this upper part of the vadose zone. Results also showed more evaporation at one sampling location, Brege. The information from stable isotopes will be of importance for further analyzing the water fluxes in the vadose zone of the study sties. 
This research was financed by the ARRS BIAT 20-21-32 and IAEA CRP 1.50.18 Multiple isotope fingerprints to identify sources and transport of agro-contaminants.  

How to cite: Zupanc, V., Glavan, M., Curk, M., Pečan, U., Stockinger, M., Kammerer, G., Vadibeler, D., and Stumpp, C.: Characterization of hydraulic properties in the upper vadose zone for two aquifers in Slovenia, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-2407, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2407, 2021.

The stable isotope composition of water (δ¹⁸O and δ²H) represents a useful tool to distinguish among different water pools along the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Using δ²H and δ¹⁸O as tracers helps gain a better understanding of plant root water uptake and dominant ecohydrological processes. To determine which pools of water are used for plant physiologic functions and returned to the atmosphere by transpiration, a common approach is to analyze the isotopic composition of water in both soil and plant. Cryogenic water extraction (CWE; Orlowski et al., 2016) is the most widely used laboratory-based technique to extract water from soil samples for isotopic analysis. However, recent studies have shown that the extraction conditions (time, temperature, and vacuum) and soil physical and chemical properties may affect the extracted soil-water isotope composition even significantly.

We have developed an efficient and cost-effective cryogenic vacuum equipment to extract water from soil or vegetation and this presentation aims at discussing some preliminary results. The equipment has been specifically designed to meet the following requirements: i) enable to quantify the accuracy of a CWE continuous flow extraction line, and ii) identify a specific extraction standard protocol for soil and vegetation samples. Two experiments have been carried out to evaluate the isotope fractionation induced by the system and how different operational parameters (i.e. times and temperature of extraction) can affect the results. Firstly, a known water isotopic ratio was processed by the vacuum system to determine the measurement accuracy and reproducibility by comparing pre- and post-processed water isotopic signatures. The likely causes of observed biases induced by sample processing are assessed and a relevant correction procedure is suggested. Subsequently, measurements were carried out on replicated samples taken from two differently-textured soils that, after being dried, were saturated in the laboratory up to different water content values with water of known isotopic composition. Also, plant samples were collected from plants grown in a greenhouse and irrigated with water of known isotopic composition.

Water from all samples was extracted by our CWE system and then analyzed using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer in Gas Bench mode for analyses and in temperature conversion elemental analysis (TC/EA) mode for. Preliminary results have quantified the isotope fractions on average of -1.6 ‰ for δ¹⁸O and 14.2 ‰ for δ²H. Normalization of stable isotopes from unknown samples according to observed fractionation has enabled the observed bias to become virtually zero, leading to a replicate reproducibility of δ¹⁸O and δ²H for soil water of 0.6 ‰ and 3 ‰, respectively. The analyses carried out up to now did not find statistical evidence that the soil types and soil-water contents may affect the extraction method and the accuracy of our protocol.

How to cite: Romano, N., Allocca, C., Stellato, L., Marzaioli, F., and Nasta, P.: Development of cryogenic extraction system for δ18O and δ2H measurement of water in soils and plants., EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14274, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14274, 2021.

Plant transpiration is a main component of the global water cycle and plays a key role in regulating ecohydrological process. Stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen are often used for the identification and quantification of plant water sources in ecohydrology. However, the isotopic tracing technique assumes that the isotopic signal in the water taken up by the plants remains unaltered during uptake at the soil-roots interface and transport to the distal twigs, i.e., isotopic fractionation does not occur during the water uptake and along the transport pathway. Nevertheless, recent studies showed that isotopic fractionation can occur under different environmental conditions. In this study, we performed a simple experiment with two olive (Olea europaea) trees utilizing labelled water to test isotopic fractionation of plant water during uptake and transport within the plants under controlled conditions. In addition, we performed the cryogenic vacuum distillation in two different laboratories to examine any possible effects of the extraction system on the isotopic composition of plant water extracts.

We set up the olive trees in pots inside a glasshouse and measured sap flow rates with Granier thermal dissipation probe, and shallow soil moisture by using a portable soil moisture probe. Air temperature, global solar radiation, and relative humidity were measured by a weather station installed inside the glasshouse nearby the olive trees. We irrigated the two plants with water of known isotopic composition and sampled the twigs, wood cores, roots, and soils at different depths (0-5, 5-15, and 15-25 cm). We extracted plant and soil waters by means of cryogenic vacuum distillation performed in two different laboratories.

Our results showed that the plant water samples reflected the isotopic signature of labelled water and mobile soil water, suggesting no isotopic fractionation during water transport. No significant differences were detected for twigs and wood cores extracted from distinct sections of the tree. However, only significant differences were obtained between plant tissue water (twigs, cores) and cryogenically-extracted deep soil water (i.e., >15 cm depths). Furthermore, we found no significant effects of the two cryogenic extraction systems on the isotopic composition of water extracts. Our results indicate that isotopic fractionation might not occur during root water uptake and transport processes in olive trees, at least under the specified experimental conditions, validating the conventional isotope-tracing approach. Further work both in the field and under controlled conditions, and on different plant species, is needed to check for this consistency, as well as testing other plant water extraction methods.

Keywords: olive tree; stable isotope analysis; plant water; cryogenic vacuum distillation; fractionation; labelled water.

How to cite: Amin, A., Zuecco, G., Marchina, C., Engel, M., Penna, D., McDonnell, J. J., and Borga, M.: A simple glasshouse experiment to test the isotopic fractionation in olive trees, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-9300, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9300, 2021.