Determination of respiration and photosynthesis fractionation factors for atmospheric dioxygen inferred from a vegetation–soil–atmosphere analogue of the terrestrial biosphere in closed chambers

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Paul, Clémence, Piel, Clément, Sauze, Joana, Pasquier, Nicolas, Prié, Frédéric, Devidal, Sébastien, Jacob, Roxanne, Dapoigny, Arnaud, Jossoud, Olivier, Milcu, Alexandru, Landais, Amaëlle
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables (GLACCIOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Écotron Européen de Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), ANR-11-INBS-0001,ANAEE-FR,ANAEE-Services(2011)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: PANOPLY; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04042604; https://hal.science/hal-04042604/document; https://hal.science/hal-04042604/file/bg-20-1047-2023.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1047-2023

Abstract. The isotopic composition of dioxygen in the atmosphere is a global tracer which depends on the biosphere flux of dioxygen toward and from the atmosphere (photosynthesis and respiration) as well as exchanges with the stratosphere. When measured in fossil air trapped in ice cores, the relative concentration of 16O, 17O, and 18O of O2 can be used for several applications such as ice core dating and past global productivity reconstruction. However, there are still uncertainties about the accuracy of these tracers as they depend on the integrated isotopic discrimination of different biological processes of dioxygen production and uptake, for which we currently have very few independent estimates. Here we determined the respiration and photosynthesis fractionation factors for atmospheric dioxygen from experiments carried out in a replicated vegetation–soil–atmosphere analogue of the terrestrial biosphere in closed chambers with growing Festuca arundinacea. The values for 18O discrimination during soil respiration and dark respiration in leaves are equal to -12.3±1.7 ‰ and -19.1±2.4 ‰, respectively. In these closed biological chambers, we also found a value attributed to terrestrial photosynthetic isotopic discrimination equal to +3.7±1.3 ‰. This last estimate suggests that the contribution of terrestrial productivity in the Dole effect may have been underestimated in previous studies.