Independence of alpine meadow plants from soil organic matter for nitrogen supply: evidence from stable nitrogen isotopes

Stable nitrogen isotope signatures of major sources of mineral nitrogen ( mineralization of soil organic nitrogen, biological N-2 fixation by legumes, annual precipitation and plant litter decomposition) were measured to relatively define their individual contribution to grass assimilation at the Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem, Qinghai, China. The results indicated that delta N-15 values (- 2.40 parts per thousand to 0.97 parts per thousand) of all grasses were much lower than those of soil organic matter (3.4 +/- 0.18 parts per thousand) and mineral nitrogen ( ammonium and nitrate together,7.8 +/- 0.57 parts per thousand). Based on the patterns of stable nitrogen isotopes, soil organic matter (3.4 +/- 0.18 parts per thousand), biological N-2 fixation (0 parts per thousand), and precipitation (- 6.34 +/- 0.24 parts per thousand) only contributed to a small fraction of nitrogen requirements of grasses, but plant litter decomposition (- 1.31 +/- 1.01 parts per thousand) accounted for 67%.

Enrichment of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of plant populations and plateau pikas along altitudes

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured in plant populations and plateau pikas to determine enrichment in stable isotopes of three alpine meadow ecosystems at different elevations in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results indicated that stable carbon isotope signatures of plant populations at the three locations showed significant variations, delta C-13 of plant populations showed an enrichment of 0.86 parts per thousand per 1000 in over the linear proportion of the altitudinal response, while stable nitrogen isotopes showed no apparent difference. The stable nitrogen isotopes of plateau pikas became significantly isotopically heavier along altitudinal gradients and showed an enrichment of 3.17 parts per thousand/km. Stable carbon isotopes showed no significance, however, and the enrichment of 0.448 parts per thousand/km. delta C-13 and delta N-15 in plateau pikas were not significantly correlated. There appeared to be segregation between the metabolism of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of plateau pikas. Variances in metabolic rate at lower water availability and temperatures are presumed to be the main cause of enrichment of stable nitrogen isotopes along altitudinal gradients. Attention should be paid to construct trophic positions and to trace food chain information based oil an isotopic enrichment model.

Analysis of diets of upland buzzards using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes

We measured the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for muscles of the upland buzzards (Buteo hemilasius) and their potential food sources, plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae), Qinghai voles (Lasiopodomys fuscus), plateau zokors (Myospalax fontanierii), and several passerine bird species at the alpine meadow in Maduo county, Guoluo prefecture of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, to provide diet information of upland buzzards, highlighting different diet composition of upland buzzards exposed to different locations. The results demonstrated that stable carbon isotope ratios of upland buzzards, passerine birds, plateau pikas, plateau zokors, and Qinghai voles were -24.42 +/- 0.25parts per thousand, -22.89 +/- 1.48parts per thousand, -25.30 +/- 1.47parts per thousand, -25.78 +/- 0.22parts per thousand, and -25.41 +/- 0.01parts per thousand, respectively, and stable nitrogen isotope ratios were 7.89 +/- 0.38parts per thousand, 8.37 +/- 2.05parts per thousand, 5.83 +/- 1.10parts per thousand, 5.23 +/- 0.34parts per thousand, and 8.86 +/- 0.06parts per thousand, respectively. Fractionation of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios between upland buzzards and their food were 1.03parts per thousand and 2.11parts per thousand, respectively. Based on mass balance principle of stable isotopes and the Euclidean distance mixing model, upland buzzards depended mainly on plateau pikas as food (74.56%). Plateau zokors, Qinghai voles, and passerine birds only contributed a small proportion (25.44%) to diets of upland buzzards. The results were closely accordant with analyses of stomach contents and food pellets, which firmly supported the feasibility of using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios to investigate diet information of upland buzzards. Another study based on stable carbon isotopes showed that upland buzzards living in the Haibei prefecture (another prefecture located in the southeast Qinghai province) mainly preyed on passerine birds (64.96% or more) as food supply. We were alarmed by the preliminary results that widespread poisoning activities of small mammals could reshape the food composition of upland buzzards, influencing the stability and sustainability of the alpine meadow. Bio-control on rodent pests should be carried out rather than the chemical measures.

Stable Carbon Isotopic Composition in Soil Organic Carbon and C3/C4 Source Variations at the Haibei Alpine Meadow

Stable carbon isotopes of organic matter originated from different soil layers (0～5 cm, 5～15 cm, 15～25 cm, 25～35 cm, 35～50 cm, 50～65 cm) were investigated in the Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The preliminary results indicated that δ13C values of soil organic matter increased with increased soil depth. δ13C of soil organic carbon in 0～5 cm layer showed the lowest value, -25.09‰; while 50～65 cm soil layer possessed the lowerδ13C value, -13.87‰. Based on mass balance model of stable isotopes, it was proposed that the percentage of C4 carbon source tend to increase with increased soil depth. The preliminary study indicated that alpine meadow might have undergone a successive process from C4-dominated community to C3-dominated one. However, changing δ13C values in atmospheric CO2 overtime and different processes of soil organic carbon formation (or eluviation) might somewhat contribute to increasing δ13C values. In this case, mass balance model would underestimate C3 community and overestimate C4 community.

No C_4 Plants Found at the Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station in Qinghai, China: Evidence from Stable Carbon Isotope Studies

Using the measurement of stable carbon isotopes in leaves as a tool to investigate photosyn-thetic pathway of 102 plant species grown at an alpine meadow ecosystem, at the foot of the Qilian Mountain, Qinghai, China. The results indicate that the δ~(3)C values of plants have a narrow range from -28.24‰ to -24.84‰, which means that none of the species examined belongs to C_4 and crassulaceous acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthetic pathway and all of these species perform photosynthesis through the C_3 pathway. This is likely due to a long-term adaptation to environments at the alpine meadow ecosystem.

Diet shift of upland buzzards (Buteo hemilasius): evidence from stable carbon isotope ratios

We measured the stable carbon isotope ratios for muscle of the upland buzzards (Buteo hemilasius), plateau pika (Ochotoma curzoniae), root vole (Microtus oeconomus), plateau zokor (Myospalax fontanierii) and passerine bird species at the Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station (HAMERS), and provided diet information of upland buzzards with the measurement of stable carbon isotopes in tissues of these consumers. The results showed that δ~(13)C values of small mammals and passerine bird species ranged from -25.57‰ to -25.78‰ (n = 12), and from -24.81‰ to -22.51% (n = 43), respectively, δ~(13)C values of the upland buzzards ranged from -22.60‰ to -23.10‰ when food was not available. The difference in δ~(13)C values (2.88‰±0.31‰) between upland buzzards and small mammals was much larger than the differences reported previously, 1‰-2‰, and showed significant difference, while 1.31‰±0.34‰ between upland buzzard and passerine bird species did not differ from the previously reported trophic fractionation difference of 1‰-2‰. Estimation of trophic position indicated that upland buzzards stand at trophic position 4.23, far from that of small mammals, i.e., upland buzzards scarcely captured small mammals as food at the duration of food shortage. According to isotope mass balance model, small mammals contributed 7.89% to 35.04% of carbon to the food source of the upland buzzards, while passerine bird species contributed 64.96% to 92.11%. Upland buzzards turned to passerine bird species as food during times of shortage of small mammals. δ~(13)C value, a useful indicator of diet, indicates that the upland buzzards feed mainly on passerine bird species rather than small mammals due to "you are what you eat" when small mammal preys are becoming scarce.

Characterization of photosynthetic pathway of plant species growing in the eastern Tibetan plateau using stable carbon isotope composition

The photosynthetic pathway of plant species collected at Menyuan, Henan, and Maduo sites, east of Tibetan Plateau, China, during the growing season were studied using stable carbon isotopes in leaves. The 232 samples leaves analyzed belonged to 161 species, 30 families, and 94 genera. The delta(13)C values (from -24.6 to -29.2 %o) indicated that all the considered species had a photosynthetic C-3 pathway. The absence of plant species with C-4 photosynthetic pathway might be due to the extremely low air temperature characterizing the Tibetan Plateau. The average delta(13)C value was significantly (p < 0.05) different between annuals and perennials at the three considered study sites. Hence the longer-lived species had greater water-use efficiency (WUE) than shorter-lived species, that is, longer-lived species are better adapted to the extreme environmental conditions of the Tibetan Plateau.

针茅属植物锥形繁殖体打钻及其适应意义的研究羊草草原群落植物水分来源对放牧干扰的响应

锥形繁殖体是具有吸湿芒和锐利尖端的一种繁殖体类型。芒的吸湿运动促使锥形繁殖体穿透土壤，而存在于繁殖体上的短硬刚毛阻止它在芒再次打开螺旋时从土壤中退出。通过这个过程，种子被埋藏到一定深度，称之为种子（繁殖体）的打钻作用，这是锥形繁殖体最主要的功能。锥形繁殖体的结构和功能代表了繁殖体在生活史各个阶段的适应，可能是植物在群落内占优势的原因之一。针茅属植物是具有锥形繁殖体的植物中较大的一类，常常被看作是识别地带性植被的优势种。小针茅分布于荒漠草原，克氏针茅和大针茅分别分布于典型草原较干和较湿的区域。沿着环境梯度的变化这些植物呈现明显的生态替代。因此，我们以小针茅、克氏针茅和大针茅为研究对象，从种子打钻、种子埋藏、种子生理特征出发研究针茅属植物的繁殖体特征对地带性分布的适应。结果表明： 小针茅的实生苗主要由当年种子产生，克氏针茅和大针茅在当年的冷秋季节和第二年的春季均能够产生实生苗。根据土壤种子库分类，三种针茅均具有瞬时种子库，所不同的是小针茅具有I型种子库的特征，克氏针茅和大针茅具有II型种子库的特征。针茅属植物通过芒的吸湿运动将繁殖体埋入土壤，这个过程可以造成种子损伤，但大部分只是引起基盘的脱落，而这不影响萌发，受到严重损伤的种子仅占种子库很小的一部分。 繁殖体吸湿芒的损伤程度和繁殖体的入土角度都影响繁殖体的埋藏。当芒被过度损伤以致不能提供杠杆作用时繁殖体不能埋藏。而繁殖体入土角度和埋藏深度之间存在显著的负相关关系。繁殖体的埋藏能力并不总是与土壤条件有关，大针茅和克氏针茅的繁殖体埋藏与土壤类型有关，而小针茅的埋藏主要与环境的湿度条件有关。 种子埋藏深度通过减少实生苗出现率和推迟实生苗的出现时间来影响实生苗的出现。埋藏深度与实生苗的出现率呈显著负相关，与实生苗出现时间呈显著的正相关关系。棕钙土内种子埋藏深度对实生苗出现的影响比在栗钙土内的影响更明显。不同针茅物种具有不同的最适埋藏深度范围，小针茅的最适埋藏深度更浅而范围也更窄，这与它出现的环境有关。因此，繁殖体的形态和生理特征都体现了不同针茅繁殖体对环境条件的进化适应，可以从有性更新的角度解释针茅属植物的地带性分布和生态替代的原因。 放牧是羊草草原的主要利用方式。放牧引起的植被变化影响水分的可用性，而反过来植物所获取的水分来源也可以影响物种的分布。通过测定内蒙古羊草草原群落放牧和不放牧区内主要植物种和土壤的氢同位素值来研究植物 的水分来源，确定放牧对植物使用水分来源的影响，调查放牧前后植物的水分来源变化和相对生物量变化的关系。 我们发现120 cm深的土壤剖面在统计学上可以分为三层：0-20 cm, 20-50 cm和50-120 cm。低于50 cm土壤层的氢同 位素信号类似于地下水，这部分水分很少受到降雨的影响也不被任何植物所利用。群落内，灌木小叶锦鸡儿主要使 用来自20-50 cm土壤层的水分，除此之外大多数物种则主要使用来自水分含量频繁波动的地下20 cm土壤层内的水分。放牧使群落倾向于利用更浅层的土壤水，对植物的水分来源的影响则直接反映到它们的生物量变化上。此外，植 物水分来源对放牧的响应和生物量对放牧的响应存在显著的相关关系，水分来源受到放牧影响越大的植物对放牧的响应越敏感。因此，我们有可能能够通过植物对水分来源的利用来估计物种在放牧演替中的丰富度分布。

Trophic relationship between the parasitic isopod ichthyoxenus japonensis and the fish carassius auratus auratus as revealed by stable isotopes

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was used to investigate the host-parasite trophic relationship between the parasitic isopod Ichthyoxenus japonensis and one of its freshwater fish host Carassius auratus auratus from Lake Fuxian, China. No significant differences in delta C-13 and delta N-15 were observed between the heterosexual pairs of I. japonensis in the same host. delta C-13 and delta N-15 of I. japonensis were significantly lower than those of its host fish, and the isotopic ratios of the isopod increased with the increase of host fish isotopic signatures. Unlike isotopic fractionation patterns generally observed among consumers and their diets, isopod parasite was delta C-13 and N-15 depleted relative to the muscle tissue of this host fish. Differential isotopic fractionation patterns in the isopod parasite and the fish may be attributed to differences in parasite and host metabolism.