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Reconstructing the response of C3 and C4 plants to decadal-scale climate change during the late Pleistocene in Southern Illinois using isotopic analyses of calcified rootlets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hong Wang  and
Sallie E. Greenberg
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Abstract

The δ13C and δ18O values of well-preserved carbonate rhizoliths (CRs) provide detailed insights into changes in the abundance of C3 and C4 plants in response to approximately decadal-scale changes in growing-season climate. We performed stable isotope analyses on 35–40 CRs sampled at 1-cm intervals from an 18-cm-thick paleosol formed in southern Illinois during Wisconsin interstadial 2. Minimum δ13C values show little variation with depth, whereas maximum values vary dramatically, and average values show noticeable variability; maximum δ18O values vary less than the minimum δ18O values. These findings indicate that a diverse and stable C3 flora with a limited number of C4 grass species prevailed during this interval, and suggest that the maximum growing-season temperatures were relatively stable, but minimum growing-season temperatures varied considerably. Two general patterns characterize the relationships between the δ13C and δ18O values obtained from the 1-cm samples. In some cases, low δ13C values correspond to low δ18O values and high δ13C values correspond to high δ18O values, suggesting that cooler growing-season temperatures favored C3 and warmer growing-season temperatures favored C4 plants. In other cases, low δ13C values correspond to high δ18O values, likely suggesting that wetter growing-season conditions were favorable to C3 plants. The high density of well-preserved CRs in this paleosol provides a unique opportunity to study detailed ecological responses to high-resolution variability in growing-season climate.

Keywords

Carbonate rhizolithsStable isotope ratiosC3 and C4 plantsWisconsin interstadial 2Southern Illinois
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 136 - 142
Copyright
University of Washington

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