Abstract
Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of leaf and thallus water of the intertidal seagrasses Phyllospadix scouleri and P. torreyi and the marine algae Egregia menziesii, Gelidium coulteri, and Corallina vancouverensis from three locations in California, USA, were determined in 1987. Compared with subtidal seawater, most plant-water samples were depleted in the heavy isotopes 18O and deuterium. Depletion of heavy isotopes was greatest in plants growing at the highest intertidal elevations. This was an unexpected result, because enrichment of heavy isotopes occurs during evapotranspiration in terrestrial plants. Two possible mechanisms for this isotopic depletion are proposed: direct uptake of heavy isotope-depleted water vapor and preferential diffusion of 16O and 1H into littoral plants from water remaining in the intertidal zone at low tide.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Allison, G. B., Gat, J. R., Leany, F. W. J. (1985). The relationship between deuterium and oxygen-18 delta values in leaf water. Chem. Geol. (Isotope Geosci. Sect.) 58: 145–156
Cooper, L. W., DeNiro, M. J. (in preparation). The relationship between stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in tissue water of a holoparasite, Cuscuta subinclusa, and its host, Rhus laurina.
Cooper, L. W., DeNiro, M. J. (in press). The relationship between stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in leaf water: influence of water utilization patterns in individual species. Ecology
Dansgaard, W. (1964). Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus 16: 436–468
Dongmann, G., Nurnberg, H. W., Förstel, H., Wagner, K. (1974). On the enrichment of H2 18O in the leaves of transpiring plants. Radiat. envir. Biophys. 11: 41–52
Dring, M. J., Brown, F. A. (1982). Photosynthesis of intertidal brown algae during and after periods of emersion: a renewed search for physiological causes of zonation. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 8: 301–308
Dromgoole, F. I. (1980). Desiccation resistance of intertidal and subtidal algae. Botanica mar. 23: 149–159
Epstein, S., Mayeda, T. (1953). Variation of 18O content of water from natural sources. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 42: 213–224
Esau, K. (1977). Anatomy of seed plants. 2nd ed. John Wiley, New York
Farris, F., Strain, B. R. (1978). The effects of water-stress on leaf H2 18O enrichment. Radiat. envir. Biophys. 15: 167–202
Gessner, F. (1968). Die Zellwand mariner Phanerogamen. Mar. Biol. 1: 191–200
Gessner, F. (1971). The water economy of the sea grass Thalassia testudinum. Mar. Biol. 10: 258–260
Gonfiantini, R., Gratziu, S., Tongiorgi, E. (1965). Oxygen isotopic composition of water in leaves. In: Isotopes and radiation in soil-plant nutrition studies. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, p. 405–410
Kristensen, I. (1968). Surf influence on the thallus of fucoids and the rate of desiccation. Sarsia 34: 69–82
Leany, F. W., Osmond, C. B., Allison, G. B., Ziegler, H. (1985). Hydrogen-isotope composition of leaf water in C3 and C4 plants: its relationship to the hydrogen-isotope composition of dry matter. Planta 164: 215–220
Mills, R., Harris, K. R. (1976). The effect of isotopic substitution of diffusion in liquids. Chem. Soc. Rev. 5: 215–231
Oates, B. R. (1988). Water relations of the intertidal saccate alga Colpomenia peregrina (Phaeophyta, Scytosiphonales). Botanica mar. 31: 57–63
Raven, J. A.: Transport in algal cells (1976). Encycl. Pl. Physiol. (New Ser.) 2: 129–188
Schonbeck, M. W., Norton, T. A. (1979). An investigation of drought avoidance in intertidal fucoid algae. Botanica mar. 22: 133–144
Sculthorpe, C. D. (1967). The biology of aquatic vascular plants. Edward Arnold, London
Sternberg, L. d. S. L., DeNiro, M. J., Johnson, H. B. (1986). Oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of water from photosynthetic tissues of CAM and C3 plants. Pl. Physiol. 82: 428–431
Wershaw, R. L., Friedman, I., Heller, S. J., Frank, P. A. (1970). Hydrogen isotopic fractionation of water passing through trees. In: Hobson, G. D. (ed.) Advances in organic geochemistry. Pergamon Press, Oxford, p. 55–67
Zaneveld, J. S. (1937). The littoral zonation of some Fucaceae in relation to desiccation. J. Ecol. 25: 431–468
Zundel, G., Miekeley, W., Grisi, B. M., Förstel, H. (1978). The H2 18O enrichment of leaf water of tropic trees: comparison of species from the tropical rain forest and the semi-arid region in Brazil. Radiat. envir. Biophys. 15: 203–212
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by P. S. Schroeder, Pullman
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cooper, L.W., DeNiro, M.J. Depletion of heavy isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in tissue water of intertidal plants: implications for water economy. Marine Biology 101, 397–400 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428136
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428136