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© 2019 Elsevier Ltd In higher plants, leaf waxes provide a barrier to non-stomatal water loss, and their composition varies both between and within species. Characteristics of n-alkanes, a suite of ubiquitous compounds in these waxes, are thought to be influenced by the availability of water and the temperature in a plant's growing environment. Longer n-alkane distributions with less variability in chain length are hypothesised to confer greater resistance to non-stomatal water loss and thus are expected in higher abundance in desiccating environments. Relationships between the distribution of n-alkanes and both precipitation and temperature have previously been observed. Despite this, it is unclear whether n-alkane chain length distributions vary plastically in response to climate, or whether they are fixed within populations in different climate settings. To better understand this, we examine the relationship between n-alkane characteristics of Melaleuca quinquenervia and both spatial and temporal climate variation. Across eastern Australia, we find that n-alkane homolog concentrations and distributions in leaves of M. quinquenervia do not vary with climate where samples are proximate, even when climate shows significant variability. However, the concentration and distribution of n-alkane homologs do differ considerably between geographically separated populations in very different climate regimes. These results suggest n-alkane characteristics are not a plastic response to climate variability, and instead are likely fixed and could be driven by genetic differences between populations. This has important implications for the use of n-alkane characteristics as palaeoenvironmental proxies.
Author(s): Andrae JW, McInerney FA, Tibby J, Henderson ACG, Hall PA, Marshall JC, McGregor GB, Barr C, Greenway M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Organic Geochemistry
Year: 2019
Volume: 130
Pages: 33-42
Print publication date: 01/04/2019
Online publication date: 11/02/2019
Acceptance date: 10/02/2019
Date deposited: 16/04/2019
ISSN (print): 0146-6380
ISSN (electronic): 1873-5290
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2019.02.004
DOI: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2019.02.004
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