Understanding continental-scale variation in plant hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios - Pseudotsuga menziesii across a 1500 km transect

The isotopic composition of plant tissues provides an important recorder of vegetation response to climate. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios have been used to infer precipitation isotope ratios and therefore variability in temperature. While this is the case, important questions remain about the primary drivers of plant tissue hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratio variation, including fundamental questions about the role of plant physiology. Relatively recent work suggests, in some species, an important role of physiology in organic matter d2H, in particular stomatal conductance, while other work suggests a distinct lack of influence of physiology. It is critical that mechanistic models of plant tissue variation in δ2H and δ18O can encompass landscape and larger-scale variability in plant isotope ratios. In particular existing models need to be compared to large-scale observations in order to assess their ability to describe variation in climate and plant physiology driven by such geographic variables as continentality and elevation. We report on ongoing work to better understand the role of climate and other drivers in plant tissue isotopic composition across relatively large spatial scales. An approximately 1500 km-long transect was established from the Continental Divide in North America (at approximately 39° N latitude) to the Coast Range. Leaf, branch, and tree core samples of Pseudotsuga menziesii were collected, along with surface waters. At each location, samples were collected from at least three elevations and on the western and eastern slopes of the target mountain range. Xylem water broadly reflected local precipitation as inferred from a global precipitation isoscape model and local surface water measurements. There was also a clear difference across the transect in apparent access to surface water, with the drier interior showing greater source water evaporative enrichment. In addition, the relationships between leaf water and stem water changed across the transect, a pattern not well captured with existing leaf water models. The relative effects of the drivers at multiple scales (within-site elevation and aspect and across the longitudinal transect) will be discussed in the context of current models of plant cellulose isotopic composition. Transect sampling locations over modeled precipitation hydrogen isotope ratios.