Article (Scientific journals)
Assessing n-alkane and neutral lipid biomarkers as tracers for land-use specific sediment sources
Wiltshire, C.; Waine, T.W.; Grabowski, R.C. et al.
2023In Geoderma, 433, p. 116445
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
Wiltshire et al 2023 Geoderma.pdf
Author postprint (4.58 MB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Compound Specific Stable Isotopes; Land use discrimination; N-alkanes; Sediment fingerprinting; Short chain neutral lipids fatty acids; Compound specific stable isotope; N-alkane; n-Alkanes; Neutral lipid; Sediment sources; Short chain neutral lipid fatty acid; Shorter chains; Stable isotopes; Soil Science
Abstract :
[en] Sediment fingerprinting (SF) methods using taxonomic-specific biomarkers such as n-alkanes have been successfully used to distinguish sediment sources originating from different land uses at a catchment scale. In this study, we hypothesise that using a combination of soil biomarkers of plant, fungal and bacterial origin may allow greater discrimination between land uses in SF studies. Furthermore, we assess if the inclusion of short chain (shorter than C22) neutral lipid fatty acids (SC-NLFA) improves land use discrimination, considering the Loch Davan catchment (34 km2) in Scotland as a case study. Fatty acids are commonly used to measure abundance and diversity of soil microbial and fungal communities. The spatial distribution of these soil communities has been shown to depend mainly on soil properties and, therefore, soil types and land management practices. The n-alkane and SC-NLFA concentrations and their compound specific stable isotope signatures (CSSI) in four land cover classes (crop land, pasture, forest, and moorland) were determined and their contribution to six virtual sediment mixture samples was modelled. Using a Bayesian un-mixing model, the performance of the combined n-alkane and SC-NLFA biomarkers in distinguishing sediment sources was assessed. The collection of new empirical data and novel combinations of biomarkers in this study found that land use can be distinguished more accurately in organic sediment fingerprinting when combining n-alkanes and SC-NLFA or using SC-NLFA and their CSSI alone. These results suggest that fingerprinting methods using the output of unmixing models could be improved by the use of multiple tracer sets if there is a commensurate way to determine which tracer set provides the “best” capacity for land use source discrimination. This new contribution to the organic sediment fingerprinting field highlights that different combinations of biomarkers may be required to optimise discrimination between soils from certain land use sources (e.g., arable-pasture). The use of virtual mixtures, as presented in this study, provides a method to determine if addition or removal of tracers can improve relative error in source discrimination. Combining biomarkers from different soil communities could have a significant impact on the identification of recent sources of sediment within catchments and therefore on the development of effective management strategies.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology
Agriculture & agronomy
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Wiltshire, C. ;  School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Bedford, United Kingdom
Waine, T.W. ;  School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Bedford, United Kingdom
Grabowski, R.C. ;  School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Bedford, United Kingdom
Meersmans, Jeroen  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Echanges Eau - Sol - Plantes
Thornton, B.;  The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Addy, S. ;  The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Glendell, M. ;  The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Language :
English
Title :
Assessing n-alkane and neutral lipid biomarkers as tracers for land-use specific sediment sources
Publication date :
May 2023
Journal title :
Geoderma
ISSN :
0016-7061
eISSN :
1872-6259
Publisher :
Elsevier B.V.
Volume :
433
Pages :
116445
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
BBSRC - Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [GB]
Lancaster University [GB]
NERC - Natural Environment Research Council [GB]
Rothamsted Research [GB]
UoN - University of Nottingham [GB]
Cranfield University [GB]
SEPA - Scottish Environment Protection Agency [GB]
BGS - British Geological Survey [GB]
James Hutton Institute [GB]
Bangor University [GB]
Funding text :
This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council; and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [grant number NE/M009106/1] through a studentship award to CW by STARS (Soils Training And Research Studentships) Centre for Doctoral Training and Research Programme; a consortium consisting of Bangor University, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Cranfield University, James Hutton Institute, Lancaster University, Rothamsted Research and the University of Nottingham. The authors thank the CASE funder for this work, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Our thanks also go to Dr Nikki Baggaley at the James Hutton Institute for the provision of soils data.This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council ; and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [grant number NE/M009106/1] through a studentship award to CW by STARS (Soils Training And Research Studentships) Centre for Doctoral Training and Research Programme; a consortium consisting of Bangor University, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Cranfield University, James Hutton Institute, Lancaster University, Rothamsted Research and the University of Nottingham. The authors thank the CASE funder for this work, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Our thanks also go to Dr Nikki Baggaley at the James Hutton Institute for the provision of soils data.
Available on ORBi :
since 06 May 2023

Statistics


Number of views
32 (1 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
43 (2 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
3
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
3
OpenCitations
 
0

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi