Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of aquatic and terrestrial plants of the San Francisco Bay estuarine system

We report measurements of seasonal variability in the C‐N stable isotope ratios of plants collected across the habitat mosaic of San Francisco Bay, its marshes, and its tributary river system. Analyses of 868 plant samples were binned into 10 groups (e.g., terrestrial riparian, freshwater phytoplankton, salt marsh) to determine whether C‐N isotopes can be used as biomarkers for tracing the origins of organic matter in this river‐marsh‐estuary complex. Variability of δ 13 C and δ 15 N was high (~5–10‰) within each plant group, and we identified three modes of variability: (1) between species and their microhabitats, (2) over annual cycles of plant growth and senescence, and (3) between living and decomposing…