OOS 44 - Advances in Biochemical Methods for Studying Organic Matter Dynamics in an Ecological Context

Thursday, August 6, 2009: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Galisteo, Albuquerque Convention Center
Organizer:
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Co-organizer:
Daniela Cusack, University of California - Los Angeles
Moderator:
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Ecologists are increasingly adopting and developing new isotopic, molecular, and spectroscopic techniques in truly interdisciplinary ways to gain insight into ecological and biogeochemical processes. Recent technological and methodological advances have improved our ability to characterize the chemical composition of organic matter in small samples, rapidly, and in situ. We invite authors to present ecological research that has benefited from the application of new isotopic, molecular, and spectroscopic techniques. Particular areas of research that have greatly benefited from new methods are the study of carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils and aquatic environments, and the decomposition and turnover of plant and microbially-derived material. The goal of this session is to promote interdisciplinary collaborations for the increased application of new methods to improve our understanding of ecological and biogeochemical processes. Some of the methods that will be presented by invited speakers are: compound-specific isotopes, pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (pyGC/MS), 15N- and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, nanoSIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry), fluorescence and quantum dots. We welcome contributions presenting other methods not listed here, but of general interest to ecologists.
1:30 PM
 Application of 13C-TMAH thermochemolysis to the study of forest floor decay dynamics
David Gamblin, Purdue University; Timothy R. Filley, Purdue University
2:30 PM
 Fourier transform mass spectrometry for the study of organic matter molecular dynamics in aquatic ecosystems
William Hockaday, Rice University; Patrick G. Hatcher, Old Dominion University; Jeremiah M. Purcell, Shell Global Solutions; Alan G. Marshall, Florida State Univeristy; Qilin Li, Rice University; Carrie Masiello, Rice University, Houston, TX
2:50 PM
 Soil organic carbon characterization by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS) and tetramethylammonium-py-GC/MS: Tracing plant and microbial contributions to SOM
Catherine E. Stewart, University of Colorado, Boulder; Jason C. Neff, University of Colorado; Theodore K. Raab, Stanford University; Marc Kramer, University of California; Kathryn L. Amatangelo, Brown University; Peter M. Vitousek, Stanford University
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
 Shifts in the composition of soil organic matter during decomposition as revealed by 13-C nuclear magnetic resonance and fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy
Marc Kramer, University of California; Theodore K. Raab, Stanford University; Kathryn L. Amatangelo, Brown University
3:40 PM
 Quantum Dots: A quantitative nanotechnological approach for studying organic nutrient dynamics in soil, fungi, and plants
Matthew D. Whiteside, University of British Columbia, Okanagan; Kathleen K. Treseder, University of California, Irvine
4:00 PM
 Basic solid state NMR techniques in the biogeosciences
Caroline A. Masiello, Rice University, Houston, TX; William C. Hockaday, Baylor University; Morgan E. Gallagher, Rice University; Jeff A. Baldock, CSIRO Land and Water; Claire McSwiney, Kellogg Biological Station; G. Philip Robertson, Michigan State University; Richard Norby, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
4:40 PM
 Do enzymes link microbial communities to soil organic matter chemistry? A cross site synthesis using py-gc/ms
A. Stuart Grandy, University of New Hampshire; Michael N. Weintraub, University of Toledo; Timothy R. Filley, Purdue University; Kyle Wickings, University of New Hampshire
See more of: Organized Oral Session
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