Comparisons of δ13C values in leaves of aquatic macrophytes from different habitats in Britain and Finland; some implications for photosynthetic processes in aquatic plants.

The δ13C values of submerged aquatic plants from contrasting but relatively defined habitats, and the δ13C values of emergent, floating and submerged leaves of dimorphic aquatic plants, were measured. In many instances the δ13C values of dissolved inorganic carbon in the water were also measured. Plant δ13C values in the vicinity of-40 to-50‰ were found in rapidly flowing spring waters with carbonate δ13C values of-16 to-21‰, consistent with the notion that species such as Fontinalis antipyretica almost exclusively assimilate free CO2 via RuP2 carboxylase. Plant δ13C values in the vicinity of-10 to-15‰ in sluggish water with carbonate δ13C values of about-5‰ were observed, consistent with the notion that boundary layer diffusion and/or HCO3- uptake may determine the δ13C value of submerged aquatic plants in these circumstances. Comparisons of δ13C values of the same or related species growing in waters of similar carbonate δ13C value but different flow rates confirmed this view; more negative δ13C values were frequently associated with plants in fast moving water. In Britain, but not in Finland, the δ13C values of submerged leaves of dimorphic plants were almost invariably more negative than in aerial leaves. The δ13C value of carbonate from chalk streams and in acid springs indicate substantial inputs of respiratory CO2, as opposed to atmospheric carbon. The contributions of these variations in δ13C of the carbon source, and of isotope fractionation in diffusion, to the δ13C value of submerged parts of dimorphic plants is discussed.