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Characterstics of seasonal variations of leaf n-alkanes and n-alkenes in modern higher plants in Qingjiang, Hubei Province, China

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

On the basis of GC and GC-MS analyses, the seasonal variation of leaf lipids is observed in five plant species in Qingjiang in Hubei Province. The CPI values (carbon preference index) of n-alkanes decrease gradually from May to November, though the carbon number distributions and the predominant carbon number in an individual species keep unchanged. The declined CPI values might be caused by the leaf fading, which is further supported by a comparison of the defoliated leaves with the fresh leaves. This observation infers the CPI values of n-alkanes in Quaternary sediments can be used as a tool to index the humification, and thus the climatic and the environmental conditions. The plants analyzed here show a remarkable difference in n-alkanes abundance, suggesting their differential contribution to the n-alkanes identified in sediments. The abundance and the compound species of the n-alkenes detected in the plant leaves change greatly with the seasons due to the influence of temperature, with the least compounds being identified in August.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    JingWei Cui & JunHua Huang

  2. Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology of Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    ShuCheng Xie

Authors
  1. JingWei Cui
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  2. JunHua Huang
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  3. ShuCheng Xie
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to JunHua Huang.

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40572098, 40525008, 40621002 and 40531004) and the 111 Project (Grant No. B08030)

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Cui, J., Huang, J. & Xie, S. Characterstics of seasonal variations of leaf n-alkanes and n-alkenes in modern higher plants in Qingjiang, Hubei Province, China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 53, 2659–2664 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0194-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0194-8

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