[Challenges and probable solutions for using stable isotope techniques to identify plant water sources in karst...

Karst regions, which account for about 15% of the terrestrial surface area, are characte-rized by specific hydrogeological structure different from most non-karst regions. Thus, many research methods that are used in non-karst regions cannot be directly used in karst regions. This issue is especially relevant to research on plant water sources. In this paper, origins and possible solutions to the common problems associated with research on water sources used by karst plant species were reviewed. Four questions were addressed: 1) why is it important to determine plant water source in karst regions? 2) Why are stable isotopes used? 3) What are the challenges associated with using stable isotopes in karst regions? 4) What are the probable solutions for these challenges? This review emphasized the advantages of using stable isotope techniques to identify sources of water used by karst plant species and the challenges associated with satisfying the prerequisites of this method. It is suggested that sources of water used by plant species in karst regions need not to be divided into specific depths and the method of identifying sources of water used by plant species based on their hydrologic properties was much applicable.