Chemical property of live and dead leaves of tundra plant species in Oobloyah Valley, Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada

• Main Authors: Takashi Osono, Akira Mori, Masaki Uchida, Hiroshi Kanda
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University/Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University/National Institute of Polar Research/National Institute of Polar Research 2006
• Subjects: glacier foreland; leaf; lignin; nitrogen; phosphorus; Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Canada; glacier*; Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research; Tundra
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2515; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002515/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2515&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

The chemical property of live and dead leaves was investigated regarding 14 plant species, including shrubs, forbs, graminoids, and mosses. Leaves were collected from a deglaciated terrain in Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada. The contents of organic chemical components (lignin, total carbohydrates, extractives), carbon, and nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) were examined and compared among the species. In general, forbs had high content of nutrients and low content of carbon and organic chemical components; shrubs had high content of carbon and lignin and low content of nutrients; graminoids had high content of total carbohydrates and low content of lignin and nutrients; and mosses had high content of total carbohydrates and markedly low content of nutrients. Principal component analysis showed separation of clusters of shrubs, forbs, graminoids, and mosses. The trend was generally similar between live and dead leaves.