Isotopic analysis of wetland development in the American Southwest

The analysis of stable isotope and elemental fractions of organic material collected from San Bernardino Ciénega was used to understand the history of vegetation composition and climate change within this desert wetland. A 4000-yr record of sediment buildup, based on four 14 C measurements, provides unique opportunities for the study of environmental conditions within an arid landscape and documents climate shifts from drier to wetter conditions in the late Holocene. δ 13 C, δ 15 N, and C:N values were measured from a 3.8 m deep sedimentary section to understand the dynamics of vegetation and hydrology in desert wetlands. Through this section we observe δ 13 C and C:N values indicating a shift in the dominant source of organic matter within the section: prior to 850 cal. yr BP (below 60 cm), aquatic vascular plants and occasionally terrestrial vegetation were the primary organic sources, whereas freshwater algae were the dominant organic matter source above this level. These values indicate that while conditions remained arid at this locality, the amount of standing water on the ciénega has increased over time. These results document both climate change and vegetation evolution on the ecotone of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts and demonstrate how the study of local sediment accumulation in ciénegas can provide critical information on changing conditions within arid environments

Arid · Climate change · Ecotone · Environmental change · Geography · Holocene · Hydrology (agriculture · Organic matter · Physical geography · Sediment · Vegetation (pathology · Wetland · Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology

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  Open Access•Benjamin R Tanner, Benjamin Tanner et al.•Quaternary•2018

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• Holocene sedimentary and environmental history of an in-channel wetland along the ecotone of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert grasslands

  Open Access•Thomas A Minckley, Andrea Brunelle et al.•Quaternary International•2011

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• Holocene upland and wetland dynamics in the Chihuahuan Desert, Cuatrociénegas Mexico

  Open Access•Thomas A Minckley, Sally P Horn et al.•The Holocene•2022

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• Novel vegetation and establishment of Chihuahuan Desert communities in response to late Pleistocene moisture availability in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, NE Mexico

  Open Access•Thomas A Minckley, Nicholas J Felstead et al.•The Holocene•2018

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• Terrestrial and hydrological responses during the Younger Dryas Chronozone in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, Mexico

  Open Access•Thomas A Minckley, Sally P Horn•The Holocene•2025

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• Late Quaternary Lacustrine History and Paleoclimatic Significance of Pluvial Lake Cochise, Southeastern Arizona

  Open Access•Michael R Waters•Quaternary Research•1989

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• Preservation of elemental and isotopic source identification of sedimentary organic matter

  Open Access•Philip A Meyers•Chemical Geology•1994

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• Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis

  Graham D Farquhar, James R Ehleringer et al.•Annual Review of Plant Physiology…•1989

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• Stable isotope ecology in the Ituri Forest

  Open Access•Thure E Cerling, John A Hart et al.•Oecologia•2004

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• Loss on ignition as a method for estimating organic and carbonate content in sediments

  Open Access•Oliver Heiri, André F Lotter et al.•Journal of Paleolimnology•2001

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• Palaeolimnological and sedimentary responses to Holocene forest retreat in the Scandes Mountains, west-central Sweden

  Open Access•Dan Hammarlund, Gaute Velle et al.•The Holocene•2004

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• Intcal04 Terrestrial Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 0–26 Cal Kyr BP

  Open Access•Paula J Reimer, Mgl Baillie et al.•Radiocarbon•2004

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• The Changing Mile Revisited

  Raymond M Turner, Robert H Webb et al.•Changing Mile Revisited•2021

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• Extended 14 C Data Base and Revised Calib 3.0 14 C Age Calibration Program

  Open Access•Minze Stuiver, Paula J Reimer•Radiocarbon•1993

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• The Lessening Stream

  Michael F Logan•Lessening Stream•2002

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