Cellulose δ18O is an index of leaf-to-air vapor pressure difference (VPD) in tropical plants

Abstract

Cellulose in plants contains oxygen that derives in most cases from precipitation. Because the stable oxygen isotope composition, δ18O, of precipitation is associated with environmental conditions, cellulose δ18O should be as well. However, plant physiological models using δ18O suggest that cellulose δ18O is influenced by a complex mix of both climatic and physiological drivers. This influence complicates the interpretation of cellulose δ18O values in a paleo-context. Here, we combined empirical data analyses with mechanistic model simulations to i) quantify the impacts that the primary climatic drivers humidity (ea) and air temperature (Tair) have on cellulose δ18O values in different tropical ecosystems and ii) determine which environmental signal is dominating cellulose δ18O values. Our results revealed that ea and Tair equally influence cellulose δ18O values and that distinguishing which of these factors dominates the δ18O values of cellulose cannot be accomplished in the absence of additional environmental information. However, the individual impacts of ea and T air on the δ18O values of cellulose can be integrated into a single index of plant-experienced atmospheric vapor demand: the leaf-to-air vapor pressure difference (VPD). We found a robust relationship between VPD and cellulose δ18O values in both empirical and modeled data in all ecosystems that we investigated. Our analysis revealed therefore that δ18O values in plant cellulose can be used as a proxy for VPD in tropical ecosystems. As VPD is an essential variable that determines the biogeochemical dynamics of ecosystems, our study has applications in ecological-, climate-, or forensic-sciences.