Metamenu

  • Our new home,

    from summer 2021

  • Global Warming:

    the threat of a permafrost Carbon – climate feedback

  • We develop and improve

    stable isotopes techniques for ecological applications

  • Plants, fungi and bacteria interact

    at the root-soil interface

  • Probing the future:

    Climate Change experiments

  • Soil is fundamental to human life

  • Tropical rainforests

    hold the key to global net primary productivity

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Latest publications

Isotopically characterised N2O reference materials for use as community standards

Rationale

Information on the isotopic composition of nitrous oxide (N2O) at natural abundance supports the identification of its source and sink processes. In recent years, a number of mass spectrometric and laser spectroscopic techniques have been developed and are increasingly used by the research community. Advances in this active research area, however, critically depend on the availability of suitable N2O isotope Reference Materials (RMs).

Methods

Within the project Metrology for Stable Isotope Reference Standards (SIRS), seven pure N2O isotope RMs have been developed and their 15N/14N, 18O/16O, 17O/16O ratios and 15N site preference (SP) have been analysed by specialised laboratories against isotope reference materials. A particular focus was on the 15N site-specific isotopic composition, as this measurand is both highly diagnostic for source appointment and challenging to analyse and link to existing scales.

Results

The established N2O isotope RMs offer a wide spread in delta (δ) values: δ15N: 0 to +104‰, δ18O: +39 to +155‰, and δ15NSP: −4 to +20‰. Conversion and uncertainty propagation of δ15N and δ18O to the Air-N2 and VSMOW scales, respectively, provides robust estimates for δ15N(N2O) and δ18O(N2O), with overall uncertainties of about 0.05‰ and 0.15‰, respectively. For δ15NSP, an offset of >1.5‰ compared with earlier calibration approaches was detected, which should be revisited in the future.

Conclusions

A set of seven N2O isotope RMs anchored to the international isotope-ratio scales was developed that will promote the implementation of the recommended two-point calibration approach. Particularly, the availability of δ17O data for N2O RMs is expected to improve data quality/correction algorithms with respect to δ15NSP and δ15N analysis by mass spectrometry. We anticipate that the N2O isotope RMs will enhance compatibility between laboratories and accelerate research progress in this emerging field.

Mohn J, Biasi C, Bodé S, Boeckx P, Brewer PJ, Eggleston S, Geilmann H, Guillevic M, Kaiser J, Kantnerová K, Moossen H, Müller J, Nakagawa M, Pearce R, von Rein I, Steger D, Toyoda S, Wanek W, Wexler SK, Yoshida N, Yu L
2022 - Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 36: Article e9296

Soil greenhouse gas fluxes in floodplain forests of the Danube National Park – Effects of flooding and soil microclimate

The relevance of soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from temperate floodplain forests has yet remained elusive. We studied the soil methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) dynamics at three forest sites along a flooding gradient in the Danube National Park (Austria) to estimate annual GHG budgets and to assess if and how seasonal flooding affects individual GHG fluxes. Soil surface GHG fluxes were determined along with GHG concentrations in soil air and pore-water at a non-flooded (NF), an infrequently-flooded (IF), and a frequently-flooded (FF) site. Both study years were characterized by dry summers, and only the FF site was flooded during the study period. Soils at all sites were annual CH4 sinks (NF: − 4.50 ± 0.85, IF: − 2.54 ± 0.57, FF: − 0.67 ± 1.06 kg CH4-C ha−1 year−1) and the sink strength correlated positively with soil moisture. Pulse-like CH4 emissions were not observed during or after flooding. Soil N2O fluxes showed large temporal and spatial variations, without any significant differences between sites (average NF: 6.5 ± 7.1, IF: 10.4 ± 14.3, FF: 9.4 ± 10.5 µg N2O-N m−2 h−1). Pulse N2O emissions (up to ~ 80 µg N2O-N m−2 h−1) occurred during freeze/thaw events, but not during or after flooding. Mean annual soil CO2 effluxes at NF and IF were 9.4 ± 1.1 and 9.4 ± 2.1 t C ha−1 year−1, respectively. Soil CO2 efflux was significantly higher at the FF site (18.54 ± 6.21 t C ha−1 year−1). High soil air CO2 concentrations (> 10%) in aerated deeper soil layers indicated a substantial contribution of the usually waterlogged sub-soils to the summertime soil CO2 efflux at the FF site. Overall, our results suggest that the studied temperate floodplain forest soils do not absorb/emit substantially more CH4 and N2O than soils of comparable upland forests, whereas low groundwater level can lead to periodically enhanced CO2 emissions from normally waterlogged soil layers.

Schindlbacher A, Heinzle J, Gollobich G, Wanek W, Michel K, Kitzler K
2022 - Biogeochemistry, 159: 193-213

Broad- and small-scale environmental gradients drive variation in chemical, but not morphological, leaf traits of vascular epiphytes

THIS LINK GOES TO A ENGLISH SECTIONESTHIS LINK GOES TO A SPANISH SECTION
  1. Variation in leaf functional traits along environmental gradients can reveal how vascular epiphytes respond to broad- and small-scale environmental gradients. Along elevational gradients, both temperature and precipitation likely play an important role as drivers of leaf trait variation, but these traits may also respond to small-scale changes in light, temperature and humidity along the vertical environmental gradient within forest canopies. However, the relative importance of broad- and small-scale environmental gradients as drivers of variation in leaf functional traits of vascular epiphytes is poorly understood.
  2. Here, we examined variation in morphological and chemical leaf traits of 102 vascular epiphyte species spanning two environmental gradients along Cofre de Perote mountain in Mexico: (i) a broad-scale environmental gradient approximated by elevation as well as by species' lower and upper elevational limits, and (ii) small-scale environmental gradients using the relative height of attachment of an epiphyte on a host tree as a proxy for variation in environmental conditions within the forest canopy. We also assessed whether variation in morphological and chemical leaf traits along these gradients was consistent across photosynthetic pathways (CAM and C3).
  3. Broad- and small-scale environmental gradients explained more variation in chemical traits (marginal R2: 11%–89%) than in morphological traits (marginal R2: 2%–31%). For example, leaf carbon isotope signatures (δ13C), which reflects water-use efficiency, varied systematically across both environmental gradients, suggesting a decrease in water-use efficiency with increasing lower and upper elevational limits and an increase in water-use efficiency with relative height of attachment. The influence of lower and upper elevational limits on trait variation differed between photosynthetic pathways, except for leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio. Contrary to our expectations, broad- and small-scale environmental gradients explained minimal variation in morphological leaf traits, suggesting that environmental conditions do not constrain morphological leaf trait values of vascular epiphytes.
  4. Our findings suggest that assessing multiple drivers of leaf trait variation among photosynthetic pathways is key for disentangling the mechanisms underlying responses of vascular epiphytes to environmental conditions.

 

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

ENTHIS LINK GOES TO A ENGLISH SECTIONESTHIS LINK GOES TO A SPANISH SECTION

 

  1. Variation in leaf functional traits along environmental gradients can reveal how vascular epiphytes respond to broad- and small-scale environmental gradients. Along elevational gradients, both temperature and precipitation likely play an important role as drivers of leaf trait variation, but these traits may also respond to small-scale changes in light, temperature and humidity along the vertical environmental gradient within forest canopies. However, the relative importance of broad- and small-scale environmental gradients as drivers of variation in leaf functional traits of vascular epiphytes is poorly understood.
  2. Here, we examined variation in morphological and chemical leaf traits of 102 vascular epiphyte species spanning two environmental gradients along Cofre de Perote mountain in Mexico: (i) a broad-scale environmental gradient approximated by elevation as well as by species' lower and upper elevational limits, and (ii) small-scale environmental gradients using the relative height of attachment of an epiphyte on a host tree as a proxy for variation in environmental conditions within the forest canopy. We also assessed whether variation in morphological and chemical leaf traits along these gradients was consistent across photosynthetic pathways (CAM and C3).
  3. Broad- and small-scale environmental gradients explained more variation in chemical traits (marginal R2: 11%–89%) than in morphological traits (marginal R2: 2%–31%). For example, leaf carbon isotope signatures (δ13C), which reflects water-use efficiency, varied systematically across both environmental gradients, suggesting a decrease in water-use efficiency with increasing lower and upper elevational limits and an increase in water-use efficiency with relative height of attachment. The influence of lower and upper elevational limits on trait variation differed between photosynthetic pathways, except for leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio. Contrary to our expectations, broad- and small-scale environmental gradients explained minimal variation in morphological leaf traits, suggesting that environmental conditions do not constrain morphological leaf trait values of vascular epiphytes.
  4. Our findings suggest that assessing multiple drivers of leaf trait variation among photosynthetic pathways is key for disentangling the mechanisms underlying responses of vascular epiphytes to environmental conditions.

 

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Guzmán-Jacob V, Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Craven D, Brant PAterno G, Taylor A, Kromer T, Wanek W, Zotz G, Kreft H
2022 - Functional Ecology, in press

 
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Lecture series

Microbial ecology of nitrogen cycling in paddy soils

Yong-Guan Zhu
Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences & Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences
27.06.2019
09:00 h
Lecture Hall HS 5, UZA2 (Geocentre), Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna

How to meet the Paris 2°C target: Which are the main constraints that will need to be overcome?

Ivan Janssens
Centre of Excellence of Global Change Ecology, University of Antwerp, Belgium
15.11.2018
12:00 h
Lecture Hall HS2 (UZA 1), Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna

Soil C dynamics –when are microbial communities in control?

Naoise Nunan
Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences IEES Paris, France
25.10.2018
12:00 h
Lecture Hall HS2 (UZA 1), Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna

 
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