Biogeosciences
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3
2008
10.5194/bg-5-913-2008
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/913/2008/
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/913/2008/bg-5-913-2008.html
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/913/2008/bg-5-913-2008.pdf
913
924
2008-06-11
Carbon isotope discrimination of C3 vegetation in Central Asian grassland as related to long-term and short-term precipitation patterns
M. H. O. M. Wittmer
K. Auerswald
auerswald@wzw.tum.de
R. Tungalag
Y. F. Bai
R. Schäufele
H. Schnyder
Lehrstuhl für Grünlandlehre, Technische Universität München, Am Hochanger 1, 85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
National University of Mongolia, Ikh surguulin gudalmj – 1, Baga toiruu, Sukhbataar district, Ulaanbaatar, Republic of Mongolia
Laboratory of Quantitative Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Nanxincu, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, People's Republic of China
The relationship between carbon isotope discrimination (<sup>13</sup>Δ) of C3
vegetation and long-term (30 years) and short-term (growing period)
precipitation was investigated. Different species of <i>Stipa</i>, a
dominant grass genus in the (semi-)arid Asian steppes, and other C3 species
were collected along aridity gradients in Inner Mongolia in 2005 (11 sites,
71 samples) and in the Republic of Mongolia in 2006 (40 sites, 45 samples).
The data set was expanded with published and unpublished data of
<i>Stipa</i> and other C3 species (11 studies covering 8 years, including
64 observations of <i>Stipa</i>, and 103 observations of other C3 species)
and C3 community bulk-samples (11 samples). Weather data were
geostatistically interpolated for all sampling sites and years. <sup>13</sup>Δ
of <i>Stipa</i> followed different relationships for the individual years
when related to mean annual precipitation due to large anomalies between
annual and long-term average precipitation patterns. However, the
<sup>13</sup>Δ response to rainfall converged when the (long-term) mean
annual precipitation was replaced by year-specific mean daily precipitation
during the growing period (<i><span style="border-top: 1px solid #000;">P</span><sub>G</sub></i>). Remarkably, the <sup>13</sup>Δ-response to (<i><span style="border-top: 1px solid #000;">P</span><sub>G</sub></i>) for C3 species as a whole (including herbaceous
dicots, semi-shrubs and grasses) and also the C3 community-level response
were virtually identical to that of <i>Stipa</i>. The relation was also
valid outside the geographical and climatic range where it was developed,
giving proof of its robustness.
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