Spatial patterns of leaf δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of aquatic macrophytes in the arid zone of northwestern China

Abstract

Abstract Analysis of stable isotope composition is an important tool in research on plant physiological ecology. However, large‐scale patterns of leaf‐stable isotopes for aquatic macrophytes have received considerably less attention. In this study, we examined the spatial pattern of stable isotopes of carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) of macrophytes leaves collected across the arid zone of northwestern China (approximately 2.4 × 10 6 km 2 ) and attempted to illustrate its relationship with environmental factors (i.e., temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, sediment total carbon and nitrogen). Our results showed that the mean values of the leaf δ 13 C and δ 15 N in the macrophytes sampled from the arid zone were −24.49‰ and 6.82‰, respectively, which were far less depleted than those measured of terrestrial plants. The order of averaged leaf δ 13 C from different life forms was as follows: submerged > floating‐leaved > emergent. Additionally, our studies indicated that the values of foliar δ 13 C values of all the aquatic macrophytes were only negatively associated with precipitation, but the foliar δ 15 N values were mainly associated with temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration. Therefore, we speculated that water‐relation factors are the leaf δ 13 C determinant of macrophytes in the arid zone of northwestern China, and the main factors affecting leaf δ 15 N values are the complex combination of water and energy factors.