Carbon radiochemicals (14C) and stable isotopes (13C): Crucial tools to study plant-soil interactions in ecosystems

Abstract

The study of plant-environment interactions has grown steadily during the past two decades. This trend will continue as many environmental changes impact the functioning of ecosystems. One aspect of studying the plant-environment interactions is to focus on the way plants react to abiotic or biotic stresses including chemical mediation between plants or plants-microorganisms (allelopathy) and plant reaction to pollutants. This chapter proposes to focus on carbon radiochemicals (14C) and stable carbon isotope tracers (13C). Indeed, they are powerful techniques in plant ecophysiological researches to describe the transfer and effects of allelochemicals and pollutants in plants and their environment.