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The chemistry of some foliar litters and their sequential proximate analysis fractions

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An Erratum to this article was published on 09 September 2016

Abstract

Proximate analysis (PA) is widely used to assess foliar, litter, and wood quality. The acid-unhydrolyzable residue (AUR) of PA, originally known as Klason lignin from wood analysis, is often assumed to be entirely lignin-derived, but the AUR of much plant material also includes contributions from condensed tannins (CT) and cutin or suberin. To improve understanding of chemical changes throughout the PA procedure, we characterized seven foliar litters and their sequential PA fractions (nonpolar and hot-water extracted, AUR). Changes in total C and N, extractable and insoluble CT (as detected by butanol/HCl hydrolysis), δ13C values and solid-state 13C NMR spectra were consistent with loss of carbohydrates and protein after acid hydrolysis, and support previous studies that the AUR residue includes lignin, cutin and CT, all of which are depleted in δ13C. Hot-water extraction removed the bulk of extractable plus insoluble CT. Only trace levels were detected in the AUR, although 13C NMR shows that these are likely underestimates. The assumption of lignin-AUR equivalence still causes misinterpretation of PA results for many sample categories. It is time for the scientific community to limit use of “lignin” to chemically meaningful contexts?

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Abbreviations

AUR:

Acid unhydrolyzable residue

CP:

Cross polarization

CT:

Condensed tannin

DD:

Dipolar dephasing

MAS:

Magic-angle spinning

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

NPR:

Residue after nonpolar (dichloromethane) extraction

PA:

Proximate analysis

TP:

Total phenolics

SSB:

Spinning sidebands

TOSS:

Total suppression of sidebands

WSR:

Residue after dichloromethane and hot water extraction

%REM:

Percent remaining

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Acknowledgments

Litter C and N analyses were completed by the PFC Chemical Service Lab. We thank Peter Constabel (University of Victoria) for the poplar tannin. Litter samples were originally collected for the CIDET study by members of the CIDET Working Group (http://cfs-scf.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/projects/76/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Forestry Centre, Natural Resources Canada, 506 W. Burnside Rd., Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada

    Caroline M. Preston & J. A. Trofymow

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  1. Caroline M. Preston
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  2. J. A. Trofymow
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Correspondence to Caroline M. Preston.

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Responsible Editor: Jonathan Sanderman

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0242-4.

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Preston, C.M., Trofymow, J.A. The chemistry of some foliar litters and their sequential proximate analysis fractions. Biogeochemistry 126, 197–209 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0152-x

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