The n-alkane and sterol composition of living fen plants as a potential tool for palaeoecological studies.

摘要: In groundwater-fed fen peatlands, the surface biomass decays rapidly and, as a result, highly humified peat is formed. A high degree of humification constrains palaeoecological studies because reliable identification plant remains hampered. Organic geochemistry techniques means identifying historical communities have been successfully applied to bog peat. The method has also peat, but without reference composition plants. We selected organic methods determine neutral lipid fractions from 12 living plants, investigate potential for distributions characterize and separate different plants groups. Our results show correspondence with previous studies, e.g. C23 C25n-alkanes dominating Sphagnum spp. C27 C31 alkanes vascular However, we found similarities in n-alkane between below ground parts some tested efficiency ratios species used (e.g. n-C23/n-C25 n-C23/n-C29) did not work consistently Some differences sterol distribution were mosses; general had higher concentration sterols. When n-alkanes, sterols all included variables, redundancy analysis (RDA) separated groups into their own clusters. imply that pattern biomarkers cannot directly be environments. Nevertheless, they encourage further testing whether or groups, possible by applying species-specific biomarker proxies.