Articles | Volume 23, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2129-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2129-2019
Research article
 | 
26 Apr 2019
Research article |  | 26 Apr 2019

Unexplained hydrogen isotope offsets complicate the identification and quantification of tree water sources in a riparian forest

Adrià Barbeta, Sam P. Jones, Laura Clavé, Lisa Wingate, Teresa E. Gimeno, Bastien Fréjaville, Steve Wohl, and Jérôme Ogée

Related authors

Isotopic offsets between bulk plant water and its sources are larger in cool and wet environments
Javier de la Casa, Adrià Barbeta, Asun Rodríguez-Uña, Lisa Wingate, Jérôme Ogée, and Teresa E. Gimeno
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4125–4146, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4125-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4125-2022, 2022
Short summary
Hydrogen isotope fractionation affects the identification and quantification of tree water sources in a riparian forest
Adrià Barbeta, Sam P. Jones, Laura Clavé, Lisa Wingate, Teresa E. Gimeno, Bastien Fréjaville, Steve Wohl, and Jérôme Ogée
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2018-402,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2018-402, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Ecohydrology | Techniques and Approaches: Theory development
Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability
Max Berkelhammer, Gerald F. M. Page, Frank Zurek, Christopher Still, Mariah S. Carbone, William Talavera, Laura Hildebrand, James Byron, Kyle Inthabandith, Angellica Kucinski, Melissa Carlson, Kelsey Foss, Wendy Brown, Rosemary W. H. Carroll, Austin Simonpietri, Marshall Worsham, Ian Breckheimer, Anna Ryken, Reed Maxwell, David Gochis, Mark S. Raleigh, Eric Small, and Kenneth H. Williams
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 701–718, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-701-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-701-2025, 2025
Short summary
Assessing recovery time of ecosystems in China: insights into flash drought impacts on gross primary productivity
Mengge Lu, Huaiwei Sun, Yong Yang, Jie Xue, Hongbo Ling, Hong Zhang, and Wenxin Zhang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 613–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-613-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-613-2025, 2025
Short summary
Combined impacts of climate change and human activities on blue and green water resources in a high-intensity development watershed
Xuejin Tan, Bingjun Liu, Xuezhi Tan, Zeqin Huang, and Jianyu Fu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 427–445, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-427-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-427-2025, 2025
Short summary
Future response of ecosystem water use efficiency to CO2 effects in the Yellow River Basin, China
Siwei Chen, Yuxue Guo, Yue-Ping Xu, and Lu Wang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4989–5009, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4989-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4989-2024, 2024
Short summary
Temporal shift in groundwater fauna in southwestern Germany
Fabien Koch, Philipp Blum, Heide Stein, Andreas Fuchs, Hans Jürgen Hahn, and Kathrin Menberg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4927–4946, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4927-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4927-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Allen, C. D., Breshears, D. D., McDowell, N. G., Llen, C. R. D. A., Reshears, D. A. D. B., Allen, C. D., Breshears, D. D., McDowell, N. G., Llen, C. R. D. A., Reshears, D. A. D. B., Allen, C. D., Breshears, D. D., and McDowell, N. G.: On underestimation of global vulnerability to tree mortality and forest die-off from hotter drought in the Anthropocene, Ecosphere, 6, 1–55, https://doi.org/10.1890/ES15-00203.1, 2015. 
Allison, G. B.: The relationship between 18O and deuterium in water in sand columns undergoing evaporation, J. Hydrol., 55, 163–169, 1982. 
Allison, G. B. and Hughes, M. W.: The use of natural tracers as indicators of soil-water movement in a temperate semi-arid region, J. Hydrol., 60, 157–173, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(83)90019-7, 1983. 
Allison, G. B., Barnes, C. J., Hugues, M. W., and Leaney, F. W. J.: Effect of Climate and Vegetation on Oxygen-18 and Deuterium Profiles in Soils, in: Isotope hydrology, 1983: proceedings of an International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology in Water Resources Development, 105–123, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, available at: https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:15067096 (last access: 1 July 2018), 1983. 
Barbecot, F., Schneider, V., Larocque, M., Pili, E., Gibert-Brunet, E., Hélie, J.-F., Plain, C., Meyzonnat, G., Noret, A., Guillon, S., and Mattei, A.: Using Water Stable Isotopes in the Unsaturated Zone to Quantify Recharge in Two Contrasted Infiltration Regimes, Vadose Zo. J., 17, 170170, https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2017.09.0170, 2018. 
Download
Short summary
Plant water sources of a beech riparian forest were monitored using stable isotopes. Isotopic fractionation during root water uptake is usually neglected but may be more common than previously accepted. Xylem water was always more depleted in δ2H than all sources considered, suggesting isotopic discrimination during water uptake or within plant tissues. Thus, the identification and quantification of tree water sources was affected. Still, oxygen isotopes were a good tracer of plant source water.
Share