The Progr ess and Prospect of Stable Isotopes in Plants
植物稳定同位素研究进展与展望

Stable isotopes in plants are widely applied in geographical and ecological studies in the recent years internationally, which combine long- term biogeochemical process and integrate different systemic components. Researches on stable isotopes of plants aim at studying temporal and spatial information of environmental factors, and revealing the trends of climate change and the geographical distribution characteristic. Abundant environmental and climatic information is recorded by stable isotopes in plants, such as information on temperature, humidity, precipitation and environment isotopes composition. The latest progresses over the world are reviewed in this paper, including the basic theories, research methods and main application areas. Review of researches on stable isotopes in plants on national and international literatures shows that stable isotopes in plants have close relation with environmental factors. The technology of stable isotopes in plants is mostly used to rebuild historical climate series, and recovers isotopes composition and concentration trends of CO2 in the atmosphere. Analysis of the features of isotopes in plants indicates that stable isotopes in plants could not only be applied to studying climate change, but also to detect regional environmental differences which has an important future for application. Study shows that the 18O in plants came only from H2O. Therefore, the origin of vapor in plants is one of the most important factors of the δ18O composition in plant, especially in typical monsoon regions. So it is possible to estimate the respective affected areas of different monsoons, and to study the spatial pattern of monsoon climate.