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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Design and Operation of a Continuous 13C and 15N Labeling Chamber for Uniform or Differential, Metabolic and Structural, Plant Isotope Labeling
Published on: January 16, 2014
Differential allocation of carbon in mosses and grasses governs ecosystem sequestration: a 13C tracer study in the
S J Woodin1, R van der Wal, M Sommerkorn
1IBES, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK. s.woodin@abdn.ac.uk
Abstract:
*This study investigates the influence of vegetation composition on carbon (C) sequestration in a moss-dominated ecosystem in the Arctic. *A (13)C labelling study in an arctic wet meadow was used to trace assimilate into C pools of differing recalcitrance within grasses and mosses and to determine the retention of C by these plant groups. *Moss retained 70% of assimilated (13)C over the month following labelling, which represented half the growing season. By contrast, the vascular plants, comprising mostly grasses, retained only 40%. The mechanism underlying this was that moss allocated 80% of the (13)C to recalcitrant C pools, a much higher proportion than in grasses (56%). *This method enabled elucidation of a plant trait that will influence decomposition and hence persistence of assimilated C in the ecosystem. We predict that moss-dominated vegetation will retain sequestered C more strongly than a grass-dominated community. Given the strong environmental drivers that are causing a shift from moss to grass dominance, this is likely to result in a reduction in future ecosystem C sink strength.
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