Latex Oxidation Defenses in Muiratinga (Maquira sclerophylla) in Manaus, Brazil

Author(s): Jardine K

Site ID: BR-Ma2

Site Name: Manaus - ZF2 K34

Variables: Other

Date Range: May 1, 2017 - July 27, 2017

Description: Plant-derived latex is widely used in rubber production and plays important roles in ecological processes in the tropics. Although it is known that latex oxidation from the commercially important tree Hevea brasiliensis, results in latex browning, little is known about latex oxidation in highly diverse tropical ecosystems. Here we show that upon physical trunk damage, yellow latex released from the canopy tree Muiratinga (Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C.C. Berg) is rapidly and extensively oxidized to a black resin in the presence of air within 15-30 min. This data package contains images of stem latex oxidation (blocked under nitrogen) under air and nitrogen in the central Amazon. Images are included in the attached zip file in PNG and JPG file types. This data was referenced in the publication "Demonstration of a strict molecular oxygen requirement of yellow latex oxidation in the Central Amazon canopy tree Muiratinga" and figures used in the publication are available in this data package as TIF files in the folder "Paper figures." See the below field, Dataset References, for full citation. Videos of stem latex oxidation are available at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dtp978r0nt4iwbq/AAA-J7c4Ra8_-xhalsYtz8cCa?dl=0

QA/QC: None

Methods Description: The experiment on latex oxidation used combined methods. The first methodconsisted on making a small incision of approximately 10 cm with a knife at 1 m distance from the base of the tree and recording images of the wound site every minute between 0-60 minutes with a small camera (GoPro HERO 4Silver Edition camera, GoPro, Inc., San Mateo, California). The second method involved quickly placing the removed piece of the bark with underlying wood attached (phloem and xylem structure) into a 2.0 L dynamicflow through glass chamber with nitrogen flowing through at 3.0 L min-1 with images recorded every minute for 60 min with another small camera. Following this period, the nitrogen flow was switched off and the lid was immediately removed to allow the ambient air to interact with the wood/latex sample with images continuing to be collected every minute for an additional 30 min. See the related publication for further details regarding methods.

Access Level: Public

Originating Institution(s): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA)

Sponsor Organization(s): None

Contact: Jardine, Kolby - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (kjjardine@lbl.gov)

Version: 1.0

Dataset Citation: Jardine K (2021): Latex Oxidation Defenses in Muiratinga (Maquira sclerophylla) in Manaus, Brazil. 1.0. NGEE Tropics Data Collection. (dataset). http://dx.doi.org/10.15486/ngt/1570409

Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported as part of the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments-Tropics (NGEE-Tropics) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research through contract No. DEAC0205CH11231 to LBNL, as part of DOE’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Science Program. Additional funding for this research was provided by the Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). We would like to thank the Forest Management (MF), Climate and Environment (CLIAMB) and Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (LBA) programs at the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) for logistical and infrastructure support during field measurements.

Data Link: Download Dataset

Piva, LRO, Jardine, KJ, Cobello, LO, Gimenez, BO, Durgante, FM, Higuchi, N., & Chambers, JQ. (2018). Demonstration of a strict molecular oxygen requirement of yellow latex oxidation in the central Amazon canopy tree muiratinga (Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C.C. Berg). Revista Virtual de Quimica, 10(5), 1316-1326. http://dx.doi.org/10.21577/1984-6835.20180090