Identifying plant cell wall remnants in detritus of a subtropical wetland with fluorescence labeling
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-2023
Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Sediment accretion in wetlands represents a significant carbon burial pathway. While litter studies can quantify the loss rates of plant leaf material, those studies do not provide insight into the specific cell wall polymers being retained or lost within the detrital matrix. The Everglades ecosystem has been dramatically altered due to anthropogenic eutrophication and hydrologic modifications. The results are changes in macrophyte species composition and sediment accretion- and loss- rates. To improve ecological conditions, active management strategies are re-establishing open water slough environments. A question remains about the persistence of new- and old- plant cell wall material in sediments because of active management. In this pilot project we utilized immuno-fluorescence labeling with lectins applied to plant leaf material and detrital flocculent collected from created open and control plots in the Everglades to observe the presence, absence, and overlap of specific cell wall polymers between macrophytes and detrital flocculent in increasingly recalcitrant materials that would most likely contribute to peat accumulation. The persistence and loss of specific polymers between treatment and control plots provided insight into the differing levels of recalcitrance amongst plant cell walls and their relative potential as a carbon sink. This study provides a novel method for testing for the presence and persistence of specific cell wall polymers in detritus to gain a better understanding of plant material persistence in wetland ecosystems.
Publication Title
Geoderma
Recommended Citation
Bellinger, B.,
McKenney, E.,
&
Gretz, M. R.
(2023).
Identifying plant cell wall remnants in detritus of a subtropical wetland with fluorescence labeling.
Geoderma,
432.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116402
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/16977
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Version
Publisher's PDF
Publisher's Statement
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116402