Comparison of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O from cellulose, whole wood, and resin-free whole wood from an old high elevation Pinus uncinata in the Spanish central Pyrenees^*

* The topic of this manuscript was presented as part of an oral presentation on the Annual Meeting of the German Association for Stable Isotope Research (GASIR), 28–30 September 2015, Heidelberg, Germany.

ABSTRACT

δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values from sapwood of a single Pinus uncinata tree, from a high elevation site in the Spanish Pyrenees, were determined to evaluate the differences between whole wood and resin-free whole wood. This issue is addressed for the first time with P. uncinata over a 38-year long period. Results are also compared with published isotope values of α-cellulose samples from the same tree. The differences in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O between whole wood and resin-free whole wood vary within the analytical uncertainty of 0.3 and 0.5 ‰, respectively, indicating that resin extraction is not necessary for sapwood of P. uncinata. Mean differences between cellulose and whole wood are 0.9 ‰ (δ¹³C) and 5.0 ‰ (δ¹⁸O), respectively. However, further analyses of different species and other sites are needed to evaluate whether the findings reported here are coherent more generally.

KEYWORDS:

• α-cellulose
• carbon-13
• climate signals
• oxygen-18
• resin
• sample preparation
• tree-rings
• wood

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank B. Müller for the δ¹³C analyses, M. Kochbeck, J. Helms, L. Klippel, and P. Römer for sample preparation and laboratory work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

* The topic of this manuscript was presented as part of an oral presentation on the Annual Meeting of the German Association for Stable Isotope Research (GASIR), 28–30 September 2015, Heidelberg, Germany.