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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Characterization, Quantification and Compound-specific Isotopic Analysis of Pyrogenic Carbon Using Benzene Polycarboxylic Acids BPCA
Published on: May 16, 2016
Compound-specific carbon isotope patterns in needles of conifer tree species from the Swiss National Park under
Olga V Churakova Sidorova1, Marco M Lehmann2, Rolf T W Siegwolf3
1Forest Ecology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland; Siberian Federal University, Institute of Ecology and Geography, Laboratory of Ecosystems Biogeochemistry, 660041 Krasnoyarsk, Svobodniy pr 82/6, bld. 25, Russian Federation.
Abstract:
Elevated CO2 along with rising temperature and water deficits can lead to changes in tree physiology and leaf biochemistry. These changes can increase heat- and drought-induced tree mortality. We aim to reveal the impacts of climatic drivers on individual compounds at the leaf level among European larch (Larix decidua) and mountain pine (Pinus mugo) trees, which are widely distributed at high elevations. We investigated seasonal carbon isotope composition (δ13C) and concentration patterns of carbohydrates and organic acids in needles of these two different species from a case study in the Swiss National Park (SNP). We found that average and minimum air temperatures were the main climatic drivers of seasonal variation of δ13C in sucrose and glucose as well as in concentrations of carbohydrates and citric acid/citrate in needles of both tree species. The impact of seasonal climatic drivers on larch and mountain pine trees at the needle level is in line with our earlier study in this region for long-term changes at the tree-ring level. We conclude that the species-specific changes in δ13C and concentrations of carbohydrates and organic acids are sensitive indicators of changes in the metabolic pathways occurring as a result of climatic changes.
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