Stable isotopes

We use stable isotopes of water (H and O) as tracers to track the movement of water through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. We also use them to track variation in evaporation and transpiration regimes across plants and ecosystems. PI Gerlein-Safdi has also been involved in helping the community improve our tools to analyze plant water samples.

Relevant publications

1. C. Gerlein-Safdi, P.P.G. Gauthier, and K.K. Caylor, 2018. Dew-induced transpiration suppression impacts the water and isotope balances of Colocasia leaves, Oecologia, 187:4, 1041-1051, doi: 10.1007/s00442-018-4199-y

2. C. Gerlein-Safdi, P.P.G. Gauthier, C.J. Sinkler, and K.K. Caylor, 2017. Leaf water 18O and 2H maps show directional enrichment discrepancy in Colocasia esculenta, Plant, Cell and Environment, 40, 2095–2108, doi: 10.1111/pce.13002

3. J. Cui, L. Tian, C. Gerlein-Safdi, and D. Qu, 2017. The influence of memory, sample size effects, and filter paper material on online laser-based plant and soil water isotope measurements, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 31, 509–522, doi: 10.1002/rcm.7824

4. E. Chang, A. Wolf, C. Gerlein-Safdi, and K.K. Caylor, 2016. Improved removal of VOCs for laser-based spectroscopy of water isotopes, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 30, 784–790, doi: 10.1002/rcm.7497