Identification

Title

Fossil leaf cuticle: Best practices for preparation and paleo-CO2 analysis

Abstract

<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;color:rgb(31, 31, 31);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Leaf cuticle is the waxy envelope that protects leaves from desiccation, UV damage, and abrasion. The cuticle encodes information about a plant's chemistry and leaf epidermal and stomatal cell morphology. Fossil leaf cuticle has been used to determine taxonomic affinities for almost two centuries and recognized in recent decades for its value in reconstructing paleoenvironments and paleoclimates, especially atmospheric CO<sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;bottom:-0.25em;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(31, 31, 31);font-family:ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:0;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;position:relative;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">2<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;color:rgb(31, 31, 31);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">. Fossil leaf cuticle preparation techniques are typically reported as single workflows tied to individual studies, starting with finding fossils in the field through the steps of preparing cuticle for chemical and morphological analysis, including decisions about type of microscopy and level of sampling effort at different spatial scales (number of fields-of-view, leaves, and species). The siloed nature of these publications makes finding appropriate methods and workflows for new studies difficult, especially for less experienced researchers. Here, we attempt to synthesize a breadth of existing workflows and make recommendations to guide methodological decision-making for new studies, with a particular focus on paleo-CO<sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;bottom:-0.25em;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(31, 31, 31);font-family:ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:0;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;position:relative;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">2<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;color:rgb(31, 31, 31);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"> reconstruction via a proxy based on leaf gas-exchange principles (the Franks model). We describe and annotate chemical procedures for preparing cuticles for analysis and include recommendations regarding leaf conditions for which each is most appropriate. For studies making repeated measures of morphology (e.g., stomatal density), we describe a resampling routine that can guide decision-making, in real time, about sampling effort.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d78d01p4

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2025-05-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact