Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2020, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (4): 350-359.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2019.0204

Special Issue: 稳定同位素生态学 生态学研究的技术和方法

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Water isotope analysis for tracing ecosystem processes: measurement techniques, ecological applications, and future challenges

TANG Xian-Hui1,CHEN Yong-Le1,2,LI Fang1,2,SONG Xin1,3,*()   

  1. 1College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China
    2Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China
    3Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Biotic Resources and Ecological Environment, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, China
  • Received:2019-08-06 Accepted:2019-10-14 Online:2020-04-20 Published:2020-02-24
  • Contact: SONG Xin
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(31770435)

Abstract:

Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope analysis provides an important tool to trace, integrate or indicate water fluxes from leaf, whole-plant to ecosystem levels. Through measuring and analyzing the natural varitions in the hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of water from different components of ecosystem, we can partition evapotranspiration of ecosystem, determine source of plant water uptake, and study mechanism of leaf water isotope enrichment. As such, water isotope analysis has emerged as an indispensable technique to study the mechanism and ecological effects of different water cycle processes in ecosystem. In this paper, we briefly reviewed the history in development and application of water isotope analysis for terrestrial ecosystem studies, which then followed by more detailed introduction of the application principles and technical essentials. Furthermore, we reviewed progresses in diverse water-isotope based research field ranging from evapotranspiration partitioning, plant water uptake apportionment, sourcing of dew flux and precipitation vapor, to exploration leaf water isotope enrichment mechanisms and water-carbon coupling. Finally, we summarized technological and methodological challenges to be solved in the future ecological research, so as to fully realize the potential of water isotope analysis in various field of ecological research.

Key words: oxygen isotope, deuterium isotope, tracing, water cycle, ecosystem processes