Using δD_n-alkane as a proxy for paleo-environmental reconstruction: A good choice to sample at the site dominated by...

Some studies have demonstrated that leaf wax δD_n-alkane values for a single species varied significantly with seasons. However, it is still not clear that the seasonality patterns of leaf wax δD_n-alkane values in higher plants. Meanwhile, few efforts have been pursued to assess the effect of the light slopes (sunny vs. cloudy) on leaf wax δD_n-alkane values. In this study, we systematically investigated plant wax δD_n-alkane values and soil n-alkane δD values along different light slopes in different seasons (spring vs. autumn), as well as the relationship of n-alkane δD values between plant leaves and soil. We found that plant wax δD_n-alkane values were D-enriched by ca. 20‰ in spring relative to autumn, and ca. 10‰ in the sunny slope than in the cloudy slope. Moreover, surface soil n-alkane δD values varied consistently with plant wax δD_n-alkane values for different seasons and light slopes. More importantly, plant wax δD_n-alkane values showed clear seasonal variations, but varied slightly with light slopes. The variations of plant wax δD_n-alkane values can be recorded in soil n-alkane δD_n-alkane values. In addition, we found that leaf wax δD_n-alkane values in a majority of species differed significantly among woods, non-woods and grasses at a site. Therefore, we suggested a good choice to sample at the site dominated by woods when leaf wax δD_n-alkane values are utilized as a proxy for the reconstruction of the paleoenvironment.