The application of δ18O and δD for understanding water pools and fluxes in a Typha Marsh

Abstract

The δ18O and δD composition of water pools (leaf, root, standing water, and soil water) and fluxes (transpiration, evaporation) were used to understand ecohydrological processes in a managed Typha latifolia L. freshwater marsh. We observed isotopic steady state transpiration and deep rooting in Typha. The isotopic mass balance of marsh standing water showed that evaporation accounted for 3% of the total water loss, transpiration accounted for 17%, and subsurface drainage accounted for the majority, 80%. There was a vertical gradient in water vapor content and isotopic composition within and above the canopy sufficient for constructing an isotopic mass balance of water vapor during some sampling periods. During these periods, the proportion of transpiration in evapotranspiration (T/ET) was between 56 ± 17% to 96 ± 67%, and the estimated error was relatively high (>37%) due to non-local, background sources in vapor. Independent estimates of T/ET using eddy covariance measurements yielded similar mean values during the Typha growing season. The various T/ET estimates agreed that transpiration was the dominant source of marsh vapor loss in the growing season. The isotopic mass balance of water vapor yielded reasonable results, but the mass balance of standing water provided more definitive estimates of water losses.