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Accurate lifespan estimates cannot be obtained from 14C profiles in the crustose lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2007

G. Bench ,
B.M. Clark ,
N.F. Mangelson ,
L. L. St. Clair ,
L. B. Rees ,
P.G. Grant  and
J. R. Southon
G. Bench
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
B.M. Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
N.F. Mangelson
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
L. L. St. Clair
Affiliation:
Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
L. B. Rees
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
P.G. Grant
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
J. R. Southon
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
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Abstract

Radial 14C/C profiles across three individuals of the crustose lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC. have been determined using accelerator mass spectrometry. These data were used to assess whether lifespan estimates can be determined in this species using 14C/C isotope ratio measurements. 14C/C profiles are relatively flat with Δ14C values (deviations from the modern radiocarbon standard) for the radial samples displaying a small spread ranging from 130 to 200 per mil. The data are consistent with carbon cycling based on growth patterns involving replacement and fusion of areoles within the thallus as well as or instead of cellular or molecular replacement. Consequently, lifespan estimates cannot be obtained from 14C/C measurements of this species and the Δ14C profiles provide no insights into whether the relationship between size and age is linear or curvilinear in this species.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Lichenologist , Volume 33 , Issue 6 , November 2001 , pp. 539 - 542
Copyright
Copyright © British Lichen Society 2001

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