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Stable carbon isotope ratio of tree leaves, boles and fine litter in a tropical forest in Rondônia, Brazil

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Abstract

Leaves of 208 trees were collected for isotopic analysis together with wood from 36 tree boles and 18 samples of fine litter from a terra-firme forest located at Samuel Ecological Reserve, Rondônia State, in the southwestern Amazon region. The range of δ13C values in leaves was from −28 to −36‰, with an average (±1 SD) of −32.1 ± 1.5‰, which was more negative than the δ13C values of bole samples (−28.4 ± 2.0‰) and fine litter (−28.7 ± 2.0‰). These values are within the range found for tropical and subtropical forests. Pooling the δ13C values for leaf samples from trees of the same height gave averages which were positively correlated with plant height at a highly significant level, with a slope of 0.06 and an intercept of −33.3‰ and a correlation coefficient r 2=0.70 (P<0.001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Av. Centenário 303, Piracicaba, 13416-000, SP, Brazil, , , , , , BR

    L. A. Martinelli, S. Almeida, M. Z. Moreira & R. L. Victoria

  2. Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA, , , , , , US

    I. F. Brown

  3. Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA, , , , , , US

    L. S. L. Sternberg

  4. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, 69000-000, AM, Brazil, , , , , , BR

    C. A. C. Ferreira

  5. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458, USA, , , , , , US

    W. W. Thomas

Authors
  1. L. A. Martinelli
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  2. S. Almeida
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  3. I. F. Brown
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  4. M. Z. Moreira
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  5. R. L. Victoria
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  6. L. S. L. Sternberg
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  7. C. A. C. Ferreira
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  8. W. W. Thomas
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Received: 26 March 1997 / Accepted: 28 October 1997

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Martinelli, L., Almeida, S., Brown, I. et al. Stable carbon isotope ratio of tree leaves, boles and fine litter in a tropical forest in Rondônia, Brazil. Oecologia 114, 170–179 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050433

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050433

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