title: Indicating atmospheric sulfur by means of S-isotope in leaves of the plane, osmanthus and camphor trees.
abstract: Foliar δ(34)S values of three soil-growing plant species (Platanus Orientalis L., Osmanthus fragrans L. and Cinnamomum camphora) have been analyzed to indicate atmospheric sulfur. The foliar δ(34)S values of the three plant species averaged -3.11±1.94‰, similar to those of both soil sulfur (-3.73±1.04‰) and rainwater sulfate (-3.07±2.74‰). This may indicate that little isotopic fractionation had taken place in the process of sulfur uptake by root or leaves. The δ(34)S values changed little in the transition from mature leaves to old/senescing leaves for both the plane tree and the osmanthus tree, suggestive of little isotope effect during sulfur redistribution in plant tissues. Significantly linear correlation between δ(34)S values of leaves and rainwater sulfate for the plane and osmanthus trees allowed the tracing of temporal variations of atmospheric sulfur by means of foliar sulfur isotope, while foliage δ(34)S values of the camphor is not an effective indicator of atmospheric sulfur.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China. xiaohuayun@vip.skleg.cn
authors.forename: Hua-Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Yan-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cong-Guo
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Cong-Qiang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D027423:Cinnamomum camphora / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D029592:Oleaceae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013460:Sulfur Isotopes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D013460:Sulfur Isotopes