| Isotope and molecular evidence for direct input of maize leaf wax n-alkanes into crop soils (1994) | |||||||||||||||
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| The contribution of plant carbon to crop soils can be followed by isotope labelling at natural abundance, such as growing a C4 plant on a soil which was previously under C3 vegetation. For this purpose, carbon isotope compositions and relative abundances of n alkanes of maize leaf waxes and maize crop soils were compared. Isotope values of soil n alkanes increased with time of maize cultivation as the result of maize carbon integration into soil organic matter. With increasing time of cultivation, the increase in isotopic difference between n-heptacosane (C27) and n nonacosane (C29) is explained, at least partly, by a direct input of maize leaf n-alkanes. The amount of maize-derived carbon within each n-alkane has been calculated by isotopic means. | |||||||||||||||
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