On the basis of GC and GC-MS analyses, the seasonal variation of leaf lipids is observed in five plant species in Qingjiang in Hubei Province. The CPI values (carbon preference index) of n-alkanes decrease gradually from May to November, though the carbon number distributions and the predominant carbon number in an individual species keep unchanged. The declined CPI values might be caused by the leaf fading, which is further supported by a comparison of the defoliated leaves with the fresh leaves. This observation infers the CPI values of n-alkanes in Quaternary sediments can be used as a tool to index the humification, and thus the climatic and the environmental conditions. The plants analyzed here show a remarkable difference in n-alkanes abundance, suggesting their differential contribution to the n-alkanes identified in sediments. The abundance and the compound species of the n-alkenes detected in the plant leaves change greatly with the seasons due to the influence of temperature, with the least compounds being identified in August.
The reports that relate to the biomarker’s fate and characteristics of the modern soil in the karst area are very lacking. By using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), a series of biomarkers were identified from the soils collected over Heshang cave (和尚洞) in Qingjiang (清江), Hubei (湖北) Province. The distribution of n-alkanes is mainly from C_ 25 to C_ 33 in carbon number, with a maximum at C_ 31 . They have a strong odd-over-even carbon number predominance. These characteristics represent an input mainly from higher plants. The lipid parameters, including CPI_h (carbon preference index), R_ h/l (ratio of lower- to higher-molecular-weight homologues) and ACL (average chain length), show comparable trends with depth, probably reflecting vegetation change and microbial degradation. Series of monomethylalkanes and diploptene are present in the extractable organic matter; they might be derived from soil microbes, cyanobacteria in particular.
